including an epic game against England, where the defender was named Carlsberg Man of the Match, and Portugal emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. BBC Sport football expert Alan Hansen said that Carvalho was, along with Sol Campbell, the best defender at Euro 2004. Carvalho represented Portugal at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, finishing fourth overall. During the quarter-final game against England, referee Horacio Elizondo adjudged Wayne Rooney to have trodden on Carvalho's groin, right in front of him, and the English player was sent off for violent conduct. The English media, however, speculated that teammate Cristiano Ronaldo had influenced Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney’s dismissal. In the following semi-final game against France in Munich on 5 July 2006, Carvalho was whistled for a foul against France's Thierry Henry in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Zinedine Zidane converted the spot kick to give France a 1–0 win over Portugal. Also in the same game, Carvalho was booked with his second yellow card of the knockout phase, and was forced to miss the third place game against hosts Germany on 8 July in Stuttgart, which ended in a 3–1 defeat. He in played each of his team's other preceding matches throughout the World Cup, as a member of Portugal's central defensive pairing in the team's starting lineup alongside Fernando Meira, and as a result of his performances, he was one of the 23 players nominated for the All Star Team of the tournament. Carvalho was named in the Portuguese squad for Euro 2008. He played in three of Portugal's four matches in the tournament, including the 2–0 win against Turkey and the 3–1 victory over Czech Republic in the group stage and the quarter-finals match where Portugal lost 3–2 to Germany. Two years later, Carvalho was named again in the Portuguese squad for the 2010 World Cup. He formed a partnership with Bruno Alves in the centre of defence, playing in all group stage matches without conceding a goal. This time, Portugal reached the round of 16, where they subsequently lost 1–0 against Spain via a David Villa goal. On 31 August 2011, Carvalho retired from international football after leaving the concentration without talking to his coach and teammates before Portugal's match against Cyprus for a Euro 2012 qualifying match, announcing in a statement