NUREMBERG, Germany – Portugal scored the game’s only goal, and things got brutal from there: Cleats bashed into thighs and shoulders, heads butted and elbows flew. Never had more yellow cards been pulled in a World Cup match.

The Portuguese survived with a 1-0 victory Sunday against the Netherlands, sending them to the World Cup quarterfinals against England. But they’ll play minus Deco and Costinha, two key starters who were ejected amid the pushing, shoving and theatrics that left both teams with nine men by the end.

The 23 red cards in this tournament – whose motto is “A time to make friends” – is already a World Cup record after 52 matches with 12 to go.

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

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led home country Brazil to the title in 2002, extended his World Cup record mark to 11 straight victories. None of his wins could have been more chaotic or venomous than this.

“FIFA talks about fair play,” Scolari said. “There was no fair play. It was a heroic victory.”

The bile began to rise after Maniche scored in the 23rd minute. All the collisions and subsequent flopping led to a World Cup record-tying 16 yellow cards – nine for Portugal and seven for the Netherlands.

Maniche’s goal 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.

Van der Sar had his mouth open in exasperation as the ball hit the net. Others soon had the same expression for entirely different reasons.

“It is a pity the referee made a mess of this game,” Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said.

Despite a flurry of chances, a ball on the bar from Phillip Cocu and relentless pressing, the Netherlands’ famed finishing let them down yet another time in Germany.

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

The Dutch have now been eliminated from two straight major tournaments by Portugal. At the 2004 European Championship, Portugal beat the Dutch 2-1 in the semifinals.

The Netherlands also lost two players to red cards from Russian referee Valentin Ivanov – Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.With most of the crowd at the stadium roaring for the Netherlands, Portugal held on for one of its most famous victories.