PORTUGAL v Iran

You know those little England flags you see flying from cars? The Portuguese have little car flags too, but they also have full-size ones, usually tucked around their bonnet, but often flying from a special flagpole on the back of their car.

The flags (car-based and otherwise) were out in force along South Lambeth Road, which was buzzing with anticipation 15 minutes before kick-off against Iran. There was a huge crowd at Bar Estrela, even though unlike at the Angola game there were no outside screens. It was an afternoon kick-off and the blazing sun must have been too much for them.

So I squeezed my way into the front of the bar, under one of the big screens, where I eventually managed to get myself a beer. I wondered how many bottles of Sagres and Super Bock they would get through today. At £1.60 a pop they were selling like hot cakes, but hot cakes that would cool you down and quench your thirst on a day as hot as this.

The waiters were gamely maintaining table service, squeezing their way through the tight crowd not just with drinks, but also full meals, including one flaming number that drew appreciation as it passed narrowly by highly flammable football shirts.

Unfortunately Portugal’s performance was not matching the atmosphere or weight of expectation in Bar Estrela or the other Portuguese bars strung along the road either side of it. They were toiling to find a route to goal against a team they should be able to beat without too much trouble.

There were flurries of excitement, followed by disappointment, when Portugal made, then missed, chances; and there were nervous moments when Iran started to create chances of their own.

Finding it a little hot inside, I decided to beat a hasty retreat and watch from the packed pavement. But it was almost as hot outside, and now my view was badly obstructed. But one glance at the heaving bar told me there was no way back.

The disappointing performance and the hot weather combined to make the atmosphere increasingly nervous as the game progressed. Some of the crowd were even allowing their attention to be diverted by the usual Fast and the Furious-style crazy revving of the customised cars of South Lambeth Road. But all that changed when Deco opened the scoring midway through the second half.

The huge crowd erupted in a blast of relieved excitement, and there was more to come ten minutes from the end when Luis Figo was brought down in the box and Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to blast the penalty home.

Finding it hard to resist both a bargain and the fantastic waiter service, I allowed myself a third, celebratory, beer, only to discover that the Super Bock I had been drinking was 5.6%.

But I wasn’t too worried; Portugal were through to the second round and the car-based, horn-and-flag-centric celebrations started in earnest. But we couldn’t hang around to join in the fun this time. We had to race north if we had a chance of getting into London’s foremost Czech venue.