Ricardo's penalty save from Darius Vassell followed by his own winning spotkick propelled Portugal into their third semi-final and now he is going to take extreme measures if they can top that by finally landing a major trophy.

By walking to the Our Lady of Fatima shrine in central Portugal, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Lisbon.

"If we are crowned champions, I will walk to Fatima," said the Sporting Lisbon shot-stopper, who has become a national hero in Portugal for his exploits against David Beckham and company.

"Faith moves mountains, now we must get past another obstacle, the Dutch or Sweden, who will be just as difficult or even more difficult than England," he added.

The strongly Catholic Portuguese are invoking all the saints they can muster to look kindly on their Euro 2004 campaign.

Skipper Luis Figo cradled an image of Fatima in his hands as he sat in the dressing room after being substituted against England, while coach Luis Felipe Scolari prefers Our Lady of Caravaggio, who reputedly appeared in 1432 to a farmworker named Joaneta in the Italian town of the same name.

Scolari hails from the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil which has a strong Italian heritage, many of the inhabitants descended from in and around Caravaggio.

Scolari won the 2002 World Cup as coach of Brazil before transferring his allegiance to Portugal - but he may find he doesn't get all the credit should he lead A Seleccao to the title.

After the win over England, one vistor to a fan website wrote simply: "Our Lady of Caravaggio Portugal thanks you. Amen."