Overconfidence was blamed for the humbling of the star-studded side after Portugal had gone into the Group Three match with a perfect six points from two matches.

On Saturday they were coasting 2-0 up at half-time thanks to a 23rd minute opener from Pauleta and a 39th minute own goal from Daniel Hasler.

But Liechtenstein, with two defeats from two games and nine goals conceded, refused to buckle and pulled one back three minutes after the interval through Franz Burgmeier with Thomas Beck grabbing the equaliser with 14 minutes to go.

"The joke of Europe," headlined sports daily A Bola.

"Portugal in Vaduz performed one of the worst exhibitions in their history, a loose, amorphous, uninspired, slow display," the paper continued.

"National team humiliated," headlined the top-selling daily tabloid Correio da Manha. "Liechtenstein transforms a 0-2 at half-time to 2-2."

The paper said that a draw to part-timers Liechtenstein, ranked 151st in the FIFA World Ranking: "is one of those films in which reality surpasses fiction."

"The worst performances of Scolari's Portugal, the friendly matches before Euro 2004, are back. Except this time the joke cost two points," it added.

Portugal moved up three places to eigthh in the most recent FIFA ranking released Wednesday.

"Night of humiliation for a ridiculous team," said sports daily Record, while daily Diario de Noticias's front page screa-med "national team disappoints against Liechtenstein".

Portugal, who now have a 4-1-0 record against Liechtenstein, have seven points in Group 3, three points behind group leaders Slovakia, with Liechtenstein second from bottom of the seven-team group with one point.