Luiz Felipe Scolari was right about one thing at least. A good big ’un will always beat a good little ’un. It was Scolari’s fear that his adorable Portugal team would be crushed by the sheer might of the Germany midfield and, while he can now plan for his future at Stamford Bridge earlier than many imagined, no one can dispute that he departs Euro 2008 with an enhanced reputation as a very good judge of a football match.

Germany won thanks in the main to a pair of free headers, from Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack, and because the midfield areas previously dominated by the magician Deco were suddenly filled with strapping great Teutons, who imposed their presence on this game from the start. They can play a bit, too, as the build-up to the first goal demonstrated, and while the scoreline suggests that Portugal were within touching distance of a place in the last four, the reality is that Germany were by far the better team and were in charge from the start.

Joachim Löw, the Germany coach, imprisoned behind glass after his sending-off against Austria and allowed no contact with his team once they arrived at the stadium in Basle, could be seen lighting a cigarette late in the game, but this may have been more a sign of confidence, than stress. Hélder Postiga, a substitute striker thrown on by Scolari after 73 minutes, caused a few quickened pulses when he headed a goal from Nani’s cross with two minutes, plus stoppage time, remaining, but this was Germany’s night.

Despite having only three days to recover from a proper test against Austria — Portugal’s first team had not been in action since the win over the Czech Republic nine days ago — they had more energy, worked harder and, in the first half certainly, played the better football. Deco was squeezed out of the game, so was Cristiano Ronaldo, and Portugal have not had a world-class striker for years. Equally telling was the absence of a top-quality defensive midfield player; in the positions that Portugal were weakest, Germany ran the show. It is no surprise that the crucial third goal by Ballack came when jumping against Paulo Ferreira, his Chelsea team-mate, who has always been vulnerable in the air. You can bet that was planned on the training field, too.

Not that Germany’s victory was about brute force and little else. Löw’s decision to mirror Scolari’s preferred formation, 4-2-3-1, was inspired and the deployment of Simon Rolfes and Thomas Hitzlsperger as guarding midfield players crowded the space in which Deco operated against the Czechs. Ahead, Ballack was in imperious form, while Bastian Schweinsteiger had one of those games that makes his famed inconsistency such a head-scratcher. He scored the first and set up two with the sort of free kicks on which David Beckham has built a global brand. Yet Schweinsteiger does not get in Bayern Munich’s team much of the time. Go figure.

It was Schweinsteiger who gave Germany the lead after 22 minutes, but the architect was Lukas Podolski, and the privilege of watching it all ours, this being one of the best-worked goals of the tournament, a fast passing move in the manner of the finest counter-attacking teams here, such as Holland, Russia, Croatia and, ironically, Portugal. It was built on a pair of one-two passing exchanges, first between Podolski and Klose, then Podolski and Ballack, before the forward crossed for Schweinsteiger, who was arriving with the energy of an Alpine mountain stream after three days of rain, and forced the ball past Ricardo, in Portugal’s goal.

That Germany’s second came four minutes later from a dead ball bore out Scolari’s words of caution. Reading out the individual height of players in the Germany team, he said that he had to find a way of combating them at free kicks and corners. Whatever he came up with was of little effect, however, judging by the way Klose, a striker with an outstanding record as a predator in tournaments, was left unmarked after Petit had fouled Christoph Metzelder. Schweinsteiger swept the ball in from the left and Klose evaded every red shirt to be presented with a free header no more than eight yards from goal. He does not miss those and, despite Portugal’s best efforts, the game was always edging beyond them from that point.

Germany conceded at the worst time, in the last minute of the first half, and had that goal not gone in, it is unlikely that Portugal would have had the bravado to make it close in the second half. It did, however, highlight the German weakness any opponent will look to exploit: an absence of pace in the central defensive position. Germany have not had that at the heart of defence for almost a decade now and their frailty was exposed by Portugal’s speed on the counter-attack.

Deco started it, as usual, a simple pass to Simão, who saw that Per Mertesacker had given Ronaldo more space than was healthy (about two centimetres should do it) and played his ball in, leaving Ronaldo with only Jens Lehmann, the Germany goalkeeper, to beat. He failed in this task, Lehmann saving well, but the ball fell to Nuno Gomes, a goalscorer not known for scoring goals, who, confronted with a net devoid of its sentinel, could hardly miss. His finish defeated Metzelder, the covering Germany defender on the line, and the game was back on; at least until the 62nd minute.

That was the moment at which Germany’s best plan came together; pitting Ballack against Ferreira from a free kick by Schweinsteiger. Ballack strong-armed his club team-mate out of the way and was left with a clear sight of goal. He is buzzing at this tournament, after his winner against Austria, and there was never a moment of doubt that this would be Germany’s third. Watching Ballack was like watching a big boy take control on the sports field. The whole performance, in fact, was further evidence, if any is needed, that the resilience of the Germans under pressure is unsurpassed in European football. What happened to the side who lost to Croatia just a week ago? Ditched on the way to the last four. How they do it, who knows?

Portugal (4-2-3-1): Ricardo — J Bosingwa, Pepe, R Carvalho, P Ferreira — Petit (sub: H Postiga, 73min), Joao Moutinho (sub: R Meireles, 30) — Simão, Deco, C Ronaldo — N Gomes (sub: Nani, 66). Substitutes not used: E Santo, R Patricio, B Alves, F Meira, H Almeida, Miguel, J Ribeiro, R Quaresma, M Veloso. Booked: Petit, Pepe, Postiga.

Germany (4-2-3-1): J Lehmann — A Friedrich, P Mertesacker, C Metzelder, P Lahm — T Hitzlsperger (sub: T Borowski, 73), S Rolfes — B Schweinsteiger (sub: C Fritz, 82), M Ballack, L Podolski — M Klose (sub: M Jansen, 88). Substitutes not used: R Enke, R Adler, H Westermann, T Frings, M Gómez, O Neuville, P Trochowski, D Odonkor, K Kuranyi. Booked: Friedrich, Lahm.

Referee: P Fröjdfeldt (Sweden).