It was perhaps never the best of ideas for Portugal to play Angola.
The Iberian country once ruled the African state and, after a bitter struggle, Angola finally gained independence in 1975.
Whether there was any political ill-feeling on the pitch during Wednesday's match in Lisbon remains unclear.
What is clear, is that the "friendly" game was abandoned after 68 minutes, by which time Angola were reduced to six men after four players had been sent off and one carried off injured.
The referee unfortunately had a complex over an African team beating a Portuguese one
Mario Calado
Angola coach
Portugal's 11 were leading Angola's six 5-1 before French referee Pascal Garibian read the letter of the law - no match can continue if a team has less than seven players on the field.
The visitors, however, had taken an early lead against their much-fancied hosts before the referee started to scatter cards like confetti.
Angola's coach Mario Calado hinted that the official, Mr Garibian, was biased towards Portugal during the game.
"The referee unfortunately had a complex over an African team beating a Portuguese one, a strong side, one of the world's top 10," Calado said.
"The level of refereeing left a lot to be desired."
Another reason could have been that his players were slightly over-zealous in the tackle, although Calado side-stepped that issue.
But even Angola does not hold a candle to the (in)famous Ecuador side that played Uruguay in 1977. They somehow managed to have five of their players sent off by the 78th minute.
No Guinness Book of Records entry of Angola
Some might say that was a more impressive feat than actually qualifying for the World Cup - something Ecuador managed for the first time last week.
There are other classic reasons as to why football matches have been abandoned in the past.
Last year, a match between two Iranian teams, Kar-o-Technic and Iran-Sport, was stopped in the 84th minute after a stray dog attacked one of the officials.
Following a 20-minute stand-off, during which the poor official attempted to defend himself with a flag pole, the intruder finally fled.
However, the trauma of the situation caused the referee to abandon the game.
Irish scrap
Closer to home, Leicester's assistant manager Mickey Adams allegedly began a mass brawl during a tour of Ireland when he was in charge of Brighton.
Albion were playing Longford Town last summer when Brighton substitute Steve Melton made a late tackle on Alan Murphy.
Adams, incensed by the reaction of the Irish, brough his players off the pitch after they had become involved in a scuffle.
"Mickey Adams became agitated on the bench and that filtered through to his players," said Longford boss Stephen Kenny.
"Their bench started roaring and shouting and they even ran to get involved. That type of thing doesn't happen in football in Ireland."
Tolerant
One of the most bizarre methods used to try to abandon a match came in last December's African Champions League final between Tunisia's Esperance and Ghana's Hearts of Oak.
Losing the game with only 15 minutes remaining, Esperance were beginning to look increasingly desperate.
So their goalkeeper, Chokri El Ouaer, decided to cut himself above the eye after being handed a sharp instrument from a fan who had earlier ran on to the pitch.
Teargas was also fired into the crowd during the game and a player punched a policeman, but the referee deemed those incidents not serious enough to abandon the final.
The Iberian country once ruled the African state and, after a bitter struggle, Angola finally gained independence in 1975.
Whether there was any political ill-feeling on the pitch during Wednesday's match in Lisbon remains unclear.
What is clear, is that the "friendly" game was abandoned after 68 minutes, by which time Angola were reduced to six men after four players had been sent off and one carried off injured.
The referee unfortunately had a complex over an African team beating a Portuguese one
Mario Calado
Angola coach
Portugal's 11 were leading Angola's six 5-1 before French referee Pascal Garibian read the letter of the law - no match can continue if a team has less than seven players on the field.
The visitors, however, had taken an early lead against their much-fancied hosts before the referee started to scatter cards like confetti.
Angola's coach Mario Calado hinted that the official, Mr Garibian, was biased towards Portugal during the game.
"The referee unfortunately had a complex over an African team beating a Portuguese one, a strong side, one of the world's top 10," Calado said.
"The level of refereeing left a lot to be desired."
Another reason could have been that his players were slightly over-zealous in the tackle, although Calado side-stepped that issue.
But even Angola does not hold a candle to the (in)famous Ecuador side that played Uruguay in 1977. They somehow managed to have five of their players sent off by the 78th minute.
No Guinness Book of Records entry of Angola
Some might say that was a more impressive feat than actually qualifying for the World Cup - something Ecuador managed for the first time last week.
There are other classic reasons as to why football matches have been abandoned in the past.
Last year, a match between two Iranian teams, Kar-o-Technic and Iran-Sport, was stopped in the 84th minute after a stray dog attacked one of the officials.
Following a 20-minute stand-off, during which the poor official attempted to defend himself with a flag pole, the intruder finally fled.
However, the trauma of the situation caused the referee to abandon the game.
Irish scrap
Closer to home, Leicester's assistant manager Mickey Adams allegedly began a mass brawl during a tour of Ireland when he was in charge of Brighton.
Albion were playing Longford Town last summer when Brighton substitute Steve Melton made a late tackle on Alan Murphy.
Adams, incensed by the reaction of the Irish, brough his players off the pitch after they had become involved in a scuffle.
"Mickey Adams became agitated on the bench and that filtered through to his players," said Longford boss Stephen Kenny.
"Their bench started roaring and shouting and they even ran to get involved. That type of thing doesn't happen in football in Ireland."
Tolerant
One of the most bizarre methods used to try to abandon a match came in last December's African Champions League final between Tunisia's Esperance and Ghana's Hearts of Oak.
Losing the game with only 15 minutes remaining, Esperance were beginning to look increasingly desperate.
So their goalkeeper, Chokri El Ouaer, decided to cut himself above the eye after being handed a sharp instrument from a fan who had earlier ran on to the pitch.
Teargas was also fired into the crowd during the game and a player punched a policeman, but the referee deemed those incidents not serious enough to abandon the final.