England striker Wayne Rooney was sent off with a straight red card in the World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.
The Manchester United player was dismissed after a 62nd minute foul on Ricardo Carvalho and a confrontation with club team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was unclear which incident led to Horacio Elizondo showing the red card.
England had to play with 10 men for nearly an hour before crashing out of the tournament in a penalty shoot-out.
Rooney was battling to keep possession from three Portugal defenders when the trouble erupted.
He seemed to be pulled back by Carvalho, and then trod on his opponent's groin as the Chelsea defender was on the floor trying to win the ball.
Carvalho reacted dramatically and Ronaldo sprinted to the referee, apparently to demand a red card.
Rooney turned to Ronaldo and pushed him away.
The Argentine referee reached for the red card just 10 minutes after England captain David Beckham went off injured in a match which ended 0-0 after extra-time.
Television pictures appeared to show Ronaldo winking towards the Portugal bench as Rooney made his way off.
At Euro 2004, Rooney was taken off against Portugal with a foot injury in the quarter-final and England went on to lose on penalties.
He had just returned from a similar injury in time for the World Cup in Germany.
As he left the field, Rooney was comforted by Beckham, who himself was sent off by Elizondo when playing for Manchester United in the World Club Championship in Brazil six years ago.
The striker looked angry and kicked out in frustration on the touchline.