Basel: Portugal's reserves failed to provide the same flair as Cristiano Ronaldo and his first-choice teammates on Sunday, falling 2-0 to Switzerland in a meaningless last Group A match at the European Championship.
With a quarter-final berth already secured after wins over Turkey and the Czech Republic, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari replaced eight starters against the Euro 2008 co-hosts, retaining only goalkeeper Ricardo and defenders Pepe and Paulo Ferreira, yet wasn't upset with the effort at St Jakob Park.
"The team played well," Scolari said. "We couldn't have asked for more than how they performed. We created several opportunities but we couldn't score the goals when we had the chance."
"We should have actually replaced 11 rather than eight. We ran too many risks during this match. I made a mistake. I made a big mistake," he said.
Hakan Yakin scored with a shot from inside the area in the 71st minute, and again from a penalty kick in the 83rd to inflict Portugal's first loss to the Swiss since a 2-1 defeat in a friendly in 1982.
Portugal have won only eight of 20 matches against Switzerland, drawing five times and losing seven.
The win was Switzerland's first in three European Championship appearances.
The Swiss failed to win a match at the 1996 tournament in England and also in Portugal four years ago, earning just one draw in each.
Portugal's reserves had their chances but couldn't capitalise on them.
Helder Postiga, playing in place of striker Nuno Gomes, had a goal disallowed in the 36th for offside, but TV replays showed he was level with right back Stephan Lichtsteiner when Nani's pass was played.
Postiga also had three headers in the match that only narrowly missed the target.
Nani and Ricardo Quaresma, replacing Ronaldo and Simao Sabrosa on the wings, played well and created some good scoring chances without having quite the same impact as the Manchester United star.
"We could have lost even if I played," Ronaldo said.
"We knew this game was meaningless, so we have to move our focus to the quarter-finals."
Postiga headed over the crossbar on a cross from Quaresma that fooled the defense, and he then came close with a shot that forced Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler to make in the 58th.
Nani went down in the area after trying to get past a defender but the penalty appeal was waved away, but he hit the post with a shot in the 53rd.
All three starters from the 3-1 win over the Czechs played well.
Pepe, who played in the first two matches but is one of the squad's least experienced players, nearly scored in the 18th when his deflection from a free kick was saved by Zuberbuehler before hitting the bar.
Ricardo had a great save in the 32nd after Yakin's header off a corner.
Ferreira defended well, but was replaced by Jorge Ribeiro as a precaution before halftime after receiving a yellow card for a hard foul on Valon Behrami.
Midway through the second half Scolari replaced Miguel Veloso with midfielder regular Joao Moutinho, and later took out Postiga for Hugo Almeida.
"This will not change our motivation for the quarter-finals," Postiga said. "The group remains united and focused."
In addition to giving some rest to the starters, Scolari, who was appointed Chelsea coach earlier this week, said he wanted to use the opportunity to give playing time to some of his reserves so he could use them in the future if needed.
Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Armando Petit, and Deco were also on the bench. Most of Portugal's starters are coming off a long European season.
Ronaldo and Chelsea defenders Ferreira and Carvalho joined the squad late because their clubs played in the Champions League final.
"It would be different with all the starters, but I think the team played well," Deco said.
Portugal, who lost the Euro 2004 final to Greece at home, are playing in the European competition for the fourth consecutive time, and fifth overall.
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