Scolari given the push: Nudge by Ballack is choker for new Chelsea boss

So it's not just penalties, then, that the Germans do better than the English. They also know how to beat Luiz Felipe Scolari in a quarter-final.

It was a victory that was rich in irony, not least for Michael Ballack and his new Chelsea manager, but the Germans nevertheless succeeded where England too often have failed.

Scolari will forever claim that he was cheated out of a fourth consecutive semi-final and he will point, somewhat predictably, to the player who is now under his control. What a fascinating first meeting that will be next month when Germany's captain reports to the big Brazilian for duty.

Push off: Michael Ballack scores Germany's third after pushing Paulo Ferreira

A touch embarrassing for both, one would think.

If Ballack does say sorry for the manner in which he scored what proved a decisive third goal for the Germans, he need not offer an apology for anything else he did here last night. He was magnificent, dominating midfield, driving Germany forward, a true captain's display.

Even if the respect was grudging, he must have impressed Scolari as much as other Chelsea players did not.

Three members of the Chelsea squad started in Portugal's defence and two of them carry much of the responsibility for Germany's goal.

Bosingwa and Ferreira were at fault for Germany's first, Bosingwa was to blame for the second. Ferreira should take the rap for No 3 even if he was pushed in the back by his Stamford Bridge colleague.

It had as much to do with his poor positioning as it did Ballack's flagrant opportunism.

Sympathy should nevertheless be extended to Scolari after what has been a brilliant career in international management. The tournament might have turned into something of a nightmare since he was confirmed as Chelsea's new manager but attempts to blame the timing of the announcement on the two subsequent defeats seemed unfair here at St Jakob Park.

Scolari dismissed such talk with a shake of the head, insisting it had more to do with Ballack and the failure of certain Portugal players to follow his instructions.

Unlike Scolari, Cristiano Ronaldo has appeared distracted by situations outside the Portuguese camp. Steven Gerrard blamed interest from Chelsea on his poor performances in Portugal four years ago and that very public battle between Manchester United and Real Madrid seems to have unsettled Ronaldo.

'I will make an announcement on my future in the next two or three days,' he declared after marching petulantly off the pitch. Perhaps, like Scolari, he should have resolved the situation beforehand.

Two nil: Germany's Miroslav Klose gets in front of Ronaldo to score

By his own high standards, he was awful in this quarter-final. He played a decisive part in Portugal's first goal but was anonymous beyond that. Another of his declarations after this match was that he is to have minor foot surgery.

Credit to Germany for raising their own game and overcoming the loss of Joachim Loew to the stand and for delivering such a superb performance only three days after that gutwrenching display against Austria when their opponents had enjoyed the benefit of an eight-day break.

Their first goal, after 22 minutes, was a perfect demonstration of their superior effort and desire as well as a beauty of a move.

After two delightful one-twos with Philipp Lahm and Ballack, Lukas Podolski left Bosingwa trailing with a terrific burst of pace before delivering a perfectly-weighted cross.

The excellent Bastian Schweinsteiger, who in turn had left Ferreira in his wake with a timely run off the right flank, finished with ease. The second goal arrived just four minutes later and it was something Scolari clearly feared might happen.

A goal from a set-piece from those big German brutes. On this occasion Schweinsteiger delivered the free-kick and Miroslav Klose jumped between Bosingwa and Ronaldo to extend Germany's lead.

While Loew celebrated in the stand, Scolari remained motionless on the bench. But it turned out that, while the body was still, the brain was working overtime. Within five minutes Scolari had come up with a plan.

Off came Joao Moutinho. On went Raul Meireles. And 10 minutes later a goal for Portugal. Rather like Germany's opener, it was delightful in its execution. Not least in the way Ronaldo dropped off Per Mertesacker to receive the pass from Simao and race towards goal. His shot was saved, onehanded by Jens Lehmann, but there was little either Lehmann or Christoph Metzelder could do to prevent Nuno Gomes from reducing the deficit.

Now Scolari was excited again. Now he was punching the air. But if the momentum appeared to be with Portugal either side of the interval, the advantage very much returned to Germany in the 61st minute. Another free-kick came in from Schweinsteiger, with Ballack this time the scorer.

Scolari responded by performing a pushing action to the referee and then urged his team to push forward, and when a second goal came in the 87th minute extra time suddenly seemed possible. A wonderful cross from Nani was converted with a header from Helder Postiga and Portugal were back in the game.

At least they thought they were. Germany were vulnerable at the back against Croatia — the side they will probably face next — and they were vulnerable again.

But they did enough to hold on, having already done more than enough to secure an unexpected victory.

Time for Roman Abramovich to study the smallprint of Scolari's new contract? Of course not. But Scolari might yet ask for a quick look at the contracts of Ballack, Bosingwa and Ferreira.