Nuremberg, Germany ? Portugal survived a brutal foul-fest with the Netherlands, one of the dirtiest matches in World Cup history. Cleats bashed into thighs and shoulders, heads butted and elbows flew.

Players faked injuries, complained and brawled.

Every bit as ugly: the blaming and finger-pointing that came after Portugal’s 1-0 win Sunday, a victory that cost the Portuguese two key starters for their upcoming quarterfinal match with England.

“FIFA talks about fair play,” Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. “There was no fair play.”

The Dutch coach, Marco Van Basten, shot back:

“If you talk about fair play, you should watch yourself first,” adding that the Portuguese needed the shenanigans to beat his young team.

“They were a bit more experienced with all these tricks and all this time wasting,” he said.

The Netherlands' Jan Vennegoor lies on the field as Portuguese players celebrate their 1-0 victory. Portugal won in the World Cup's round of 16 on Sunday in Nuremberg, Germany.

But when it came to expulsions, the sides were level at 2-2. The four red cards were a World Cup first and raised the number in this tournament – whose motto is “A time to make friends” – to 23, already a World Cup record after 52 matches with 12 to go.

It also means the Portuguese face England minus Deco and Costinha, who were ejected amid the pushing, shoving and theatrics that left both teams with nine men by the end.

Portugal also lost Cristiano Ronaldo, a creative attacker, who came off with a leg injury from a second harsh foul. His status was still uncertain.

“Cristiano has five, six days to recover. We hope he will recover,” said Scolari, who extended his World Cup record mark to 11 straight victories amid the chaos. The Brazilian led his home country to the 2002 title.

The 16 yellow cards Sunday tied a World Cup match record, with nine for Portugal and seven for the Netherlands.

But the difference in the game was a beautiful goal by Maniche in the 23rd minute that came off a quick threat on the edge of the area. Pauleta touched the ball to Maniche, who skipped inside a defender and shot right-footed past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from 16 yards.

After that, the bile began to rise, and the best the Dutch could do in reply was send cross after cross.

Veteran midfielder Phillip Cocu sent a volley crashing on the bar and out again in the 48th minute.

“It is sad there was so little soccer played in the second half,” said Van Basten.

With star striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy sidelined for tactical reasons, his replacement Dirk Kuyt came close twice, but not close enough.

“We didn’t have the luck to score goals,” said Van Basten, who lost his first competitive game since taking the job after the Netherlands lost to a Maniche goal in the semifinals of Euro 2004.

“Our missed opportunities, that made the difference,” said Van der Sar.