As the referee brought an end to yesterday's World Cup semi-final, a loud collective groan rang out from the packed hall of the Vasco de Gama Club in Hamilton.

With Portugal's dream of a first ever World Cup finals in tatters thanks to their 1-0 loss at the hands of France, the hundreds of red-shirted Portuguese fans who had assembled to cheer on their team milled about aimlessly ? some cursing the "cheating" French, others staring off into space pondering what might have been.

"What a rip off ? no way was that a penalty," said one man, his moist-eyed young son cradled in his arms sporting a Portugal bandanna and carrying a miniature national flag.

Outside, a group of men argued in the street, shouting to make themselves heard over one another and throwing their hands up in frustration at the end of a crushingly disappointing afternoon

This mood was in stark contrast to that of an hour and a half earlier, when the atmosphere in the famous old club on Reid Street crackled with a sense of anticipation and excitement in the minutes before kick off.

With all women and children sat watching the big screen in the smoke-free and darkened main hall, in the adjacent bar a nicotine-laced fog hung around the male-only drinkers as they sucked nervously at their Marlboro Reds and poured beer after beer down their throats to help ease the tension.

Emblazoned on the back of scores of Portugal shirts were the words "Passion and Strength" ? and there was certainly plenty of the former as Portugal had the better of the opening exchanges, every half chance and explosive Ronaldo dribble greeted with a roar of encouragement.

But with Felipe Scolari's men looking comfortable, French striker Thierry Henry went down in the Portuguese box and was awarded a controversial penalty, a decision which prompted howls of disgust and much shaking of fists.

There were certainly plenty of opinions flying about over the complimentary half time meatballs, with most agreeing that Henry had dived and that given the circumstances, Portugal had to attack in the second half and not worry about leaking a second on the counter-attack.

But a growing sense of exasperation spread through the club as the minutes ticked by after the break and Portugal's laboured attacks struggled to make much of an impression on the well-organised French defence.

One or two horn blasts and the odd clash of cymbals did nothing to lighten the mood, with exasperation turning to despair in the dying stages as Luis Figo missed a glorious chance for an equaliser and a couple of promising corners came to nothing.

The result meant that the were no mass celebrations in the streets of Hamilton last night, with Harbour Nights the only thing giving the Police traffic headaches.