On the day that he joined veteran defender Fernando Couto as Portugal's most capped player in winning his 109th cap, Figo rolled his sleeves up to grab the showdown by the scruff of the neck and break Portugal's semi-final hoodoo after losses to France in 1984 and 2000 as well as at the 1966 World Cup.

The 31-year-old Real Madrid playmaker is the last remaining standard bearer of the club's regal crop of Euro 2004 stars, with Zinedine Zidane of France and England's David Beckham failing to set the competition alight and Raul of Spain making an early exit.

But Figo endured his own moment of agony - some would say humiliation - when coach Luiz Felipe Scolari substituted him in the quarter-final win over England, whereupon he headed straight for the dressing room.

On Wednesday he was energy and adrenaline personifed, a barnstorming showing in the midfield engine room deserving to be capped with a goal.

Instead, only the width of Dutch keeper Edwin Van der Sar's right hand post denied him an even greater share of the headlines at the end of a surging run and ambitious curling shot four minutes before the interval.

At the end, as Portugal's players basked in the acclaim of their fans, Figo calmly returned the applause - which echoed back to him in waves as he was awarded the man of the match accolade.

"It is difficult to explain the emotion I feel right now," Figo said. "We have done a lot to get here. To be in the final and to be at home and with our supporters it can't get better than that.

"It is a fantastic night for Portugal. It's a historic achievement for our country. All the group worked hard for this and I am delighted for this moment."

Figo said Portugal's 'golden generation' of players would finally be having their day in a final.

"Thirteen years ago in 1991 I was a youth world champion in the Stadium of Light," the old version of the now rebuilt Benfica stadium which will host Sunday's final.

"Since then my goal was to reach the final of a senior tournament."

It was all a far cry from his previous appearance in this tournament which had ended with the star deliberately walking around the touchline and down the tunnel at the Stadium of Light, so avoiding Scolari, whose replacement of him with Helder Postiga brought a decisive sea-change in Portugal's favour as the striker headed the equaliser against England.

Scolari and Figo have downplayed the issue of the substitution, their relationship one of mutual respect rather than warm friendship.

"He is simply not the kind of guy to open up and pour out his heart, he is a private person," Scolari said.

To which Figo responded: "I have nothing to prove, the people know me well.

"I just have to give my best in the next game."

Wednesday saw that promise magnificently fulfilled.

Fully 13 years on from his debut away draw with Luxembourg, Figo responded to his country's call and when Scolari called on his captain marvel to deliver in the white-hot atmosphere of the Alvalade Stadium the veteran was not found wanting.

And if Couto belatedly entered the fray for a three-minute 110th appearance to reclaim the national cap record for now the evening still belonged to his compatriot in the number seven shirt.