By Steven Agen
Portugal overcame an early injury to star Cristiano Ronaldo to avenge their heartbreak in Lisbon 2004 and lift their first-ever European crown, defeating hosts France 1-0 after extra time in the Euro 2016 final. Second half substitute Eder scored the winning goal on 109’ after regular time finished without a breakthrough. France sought to win their first European championship in sixteen years, and nearly became the first host nation to win the competition since they did it themselves in 1984. For Portugal, the win seems to bring their loss to Greece twelve years ago full circle.
Playing a pragmatic, defensive style of soccer dubbed a version of “anti-football” by many pundits, Portugal reached the final using the same tactics that Greece overcame Euro 2004 with. After the Greeks ruined Portugal’s chance to win it all at home, it was only fitting for the program that their inaugural championship comes in denying the hosts this time around. Stylistically and geographically speaking, the Portuguese did a stand-up job of vanquishing the narrative from their most prominent failure.
The final itself fit the narrative of this edition of the tournament. The sense of anticlimax that has pervaded many matches at Euro 2016 first struck the game on eight minutes, with Antoine Griezmann crashing into the left knee of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal captain did what he could to try and continue, but it soon became clear that his injury would be severe enough to rob the match of his presence. Ricardo Quaresma replaced him on 24 minutes. Portugal seemed intent to sit in and absorb French pressure as it was in the first twenty minutes – with the leader of their attack gone, they would double that resolve.
France did their best to break down the obstinate defenders. They carried most of the match, possessing 56.5% of the ball on the night overall. Les Bleus outshot Portugal 18-10 as well, but goalkeeper Rui Patricio made seven saves and at times rode his luck en route to the most important clean sheet of his life.
Griezmann and substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac created France’s most promising opportunities to beat the Portuguese shotstopper. Kingsley Coman crossed to Griezmann on 66’ and the tournament’s leading goalscorer headed just over from the center of the area. Patricio would have been beaten for pace, had it been on target, and hardly anyone could believe that Griezmann had missed given his form of late.
Gignac came closer yet, slamming a shot off the base of the near post in stoppage time. The Tigres forward shielded the ball away from trouble wide left of goal in the area, and seemed to scuff an effort that fooled Patricio. The ball beat the goalkeeper but not the post, and the match went to extra time.
Additional time passed as the ninety had. The tense, moderately-closed affair seemed destined for penalty kick until Eder altered the script. The big forward received the ball centrally 25 yards from goal, held off a defender and then ripped a right-footed strike towards the bottom left corner on 109’. Hugo Lloris didn’t get particularly close to it, and Portugal had themselves an emphatic winner as the ball thumped the back of the net. In the scope of the match, the goal truly seemed to come out of nowhere. The final whistle blew 13 minutes (11 regular and two in stoppage) later with little drama to report in between.
The hosts lamented their inability to convert dominance into goals, and Ronaldo limped up the stairs of Stade de France and lifted his first ever international trophy. Portugal’s greatest star ever ended this remarkable summer of international soccer with the one lasting storyline that didn’t feel anticlimactic – Ronaldo finally gained a leg up on Lionel Messi after the Argentine playmaker stumbled in the Copa America Centenario final against Chile.
And thus concludes the continental championships of 2016, where we’ll always remember Ronaldo 1, Messi 0.
EURO2016
