'How Portugal's second golden generation face pivotal moment'published at 19:18 British Summer Time 23 June 2021
Portugal v France (20:00 BST)
Marcus Alves
BBC Sport
The Germany game was not just a humiliating defeat for Portugal, but the reality check for a team whose level of confidence going into a major tournament had never been so high.
For the first time, the Selecao were viewed as strong contenders rather than dark horses. The hype had escalated to such a point that the whole debate in the country revolved around whether this was the best Portuguese side of all time.
They will need to overcome a psychological hurdle that has troubled them in the past but that they assumed they had moved beyond. The thrashing by Germany revived it - an inferiority complex that left them trembling before games against big teams and held them back from fulfilling their potential in the past.