England thought they had won last night's quarter-final in Lisbon when, with the score at 1-1, the ball came back off the bar and Campbell headed home from close range.

But as the Three Lions celebrated the goal was disallowed by referee Urs Meier of Switzerland, presumably for a foul by the big centre-back.

It was a cruel moment in the match for England and Portugal went on to win the tie on penalties after the game finished 2-2 after extra time.

An exhausted Lampard, who scored England's second goal, said: "I think a lot of the lads are struggling to come to terms with that has happened.

"The linesman gave the goal from Sol but the referee overruled and I don't understand that. I don't know how he could see because he was a long way away. And that was a big decision.

"I wouldn't say we feel robbed because the Portuguese played very well, but that decision cost us.

"We showed great character and we thought Sol's goal should have counted. But you have to give the Portuguese credit, it was a great game for them and I wish them luck in the semi-finals."

Lampard stood up and took the game to penalties when, with only five minutes remaining of extra-time, he turned on a John Terry knock-down and fired England level.

The midfielder also scored in the penalty shoot-out and was quick to jump to the defence of striker Darius Vassell, who had his spot-kick saved.

He said: "What can you say to Darius? You just have to put your arm round him and that's all you can do. Darius has played very well and he's a great taker of penalties.

"It takes a lot of nerve to walk up there at the Portuguese end. It was saved not missed and he has to keep his head up."

It's hard not to feel that everything went against England in the Stadium of Light, even if the team didn't produce their best performance.

As well as the missed penalties and disallowed goal, the Three Lions also had to contend with the loss of Wayne Rooney to a foot injury after only 27 minutes.

Lampard said: "Maybe it would have been different if Wayne hadn't been injured, I don't know. He has been on fire and he's been a breath of fresh air.

"It would have been nice to have him on the pitch for the whole game, but then again Darius came on and did well. He got behind them quite a few times.

"We mustn't be too down after this. We haven't proved we can win the tournament but we've proved we are a force and that we're not far off.

"If we had gone through today there would have been great belief that we could go all the way. We would have been within touching distance of the final.

"But now we have to wait two years for another chance and try and qualify for the World Cup. That's what we intend to do."