After such a great start against the hosts, just as they had against hoklders France in their opening game in Portugal, England ultimately paid a high price for their defensice tactics in trying desperately to presrrve a 1-0 lead for nearly 90 minutes.
Owen hit the net once more in the nail-biting penalty shoot-out, but misses from Captain David Beckham and pacy Aston Villa marksman Darius Vasssel handed Portugal a 6-5 win in sudden death.
"It's a big disappointment and it always seems to happen we lose on penalties. These tournaments come around every two years so you can't expect to win it every time, but losing on penalties is a bitter blow.
"It's not as if we missed a lot as we scored four out of five to start with but to be fair to them they put the penalties away really well.
"We thought we had won it in the last minute with Sol Campbell but it was the same in the World Cup 98 when he scored a perfectly good goal but it was disallowed. I should have scored with the header just before but I got a little nudge and the ball came off my shoulder onto the bar. I didn't see anything wrong with the goal and it's just disappointing."