World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

62 RISEOFRONALDO

M

oreoftenthannot,

internationaltournaments

getthe final– andthe

winners– theydeserve.

Euro 2016 wasnodifferent,anditwill

berememberedasthe tournament

wherecollective obstinacytriumphed

overindividualbrilliance.Wherethe

finalwaswonbya teamthatcould

notbeat Iceland,AustriaorHungary

inthe groupstage.Andthe winning

goalwas scoredbyanout-of-favour

strikerwhocouldnotget offSwansea

City’sbenchlast season.

ThePortugueseclassof 2016 will

notbe hailedasa “goldengeneration”.

Theywerenotthe best teaminthe

tournament;indeed,theywerenot

eventhebestteamintheiropening-

roundgroup.

Historywill record CristianoRonaldo

asthe captainandfigureheadofthe

Portugalsidethatwon theirfirst-ever

seniorinternationaltitlebybeating

France1-0 in extra-timeatthe Stade

deFrance.TheRealMadridgalactico

ledthe celebrations,yethe wasa

passengeronthe night.A hefty

challengefromDimitriPayethad

jarred hisknee,forcinghimtoleave

thepitchintearsafter 2 5 minutes.

Hehad watchedfromthe sidelines,

hiskneeheavilystrapped,asteam-

matesandcoachingstaffswarmed

aroundEder, theunlikelyhero and

scorerofthe goal thatsecured an

historicvictoryforPortugal.Ederhad

spentthe secondhalfoflastseasonin

France,onloanatLigue1 clubLille,and

hisseason’s nadir hadcomeinJanuary,

whenhefailedtobecalled from the

benchasSwansealostan FA Cuptie

toLeagueTwo sideOxfordUnited.

Yet Edertypifiedthespiritthat

underpinnedPortugal’s victory. This

wasnota Portugalsidethatplayed

beautifulattackingfootball,withtricky

wingersandballplayer magicians,asat

Euro’96,Euro 2 000 andEuro 2 004.

Instead,coachFernandoSantos

re-inventedPortugalina defensive-

minded,tacticallyastuteway.The

age-oldproblem that hasdogged

theSelecao– a lack of a goalscoring

centre-forward– wassolvedbymoving

RonaldoandNaniinfromthewings.

Theteamwouldplaymost of the

tournamentwithout wingers,with

onlyRicardoQuaresmausedas

a late substitute.

Inmidfield,thelikesofRenato

Sanches,WilliamCarvalho,JoaoMario,

AdrienSilva andDanilowouldinstead

focus on containingthe opposition.

Theircentralaimwouldbetoprovidea

defensive platform from whichRonaldo

couldstarinwhatwas probablygoing

tobehisinternationalswansong.

Inthe groupstage,Ronaldo’s

Portugal,Ronaldofinallydidso,againsttheodds,atEuro2016.

GavinHamiltonreportsonthechampions’tournamenttriumph

greatest night