World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

PORTUGAL

F

orthe secondtimein less

than 24 hours,Ederzito

AntonioMacedoLopes–

better knownsimplyasEder

• didnotpassup an invitation to be the
  mainprotagonist at an historicevent.
  Thepreviouseveninghehadmade
  thebestpossibleuse of aJoaoMoutinho
  passinextra-timeagainstFranceto
  scorethewinninggoalintheEuro
  2016 finalatthe StadedeFrance.
  Now,nexttothefountainatopthe
  vastsweepinglawnofthe Alameda
  DomAfonsoHenriques,nota blade
  ofgrassofwhichwas visibleforthe
  expanseofheavinghumanityonit,
  theheroof thehouragainelicited
  riotouscheerswhenhebellowed
  intothemicrophone:“Todayis
  a f*****gnational holiday!”
  AmidextraordinaryscenesinLisbon
  onJuly 11 , Portugal– a football-crazed
  countrywhoare so oftenthenearly
  men– hadreacheditszenith in the
  sport,andthe populationwas
  savouringeverysecond of it.
  Neitherswelteringtemperatures
  norhangoversfromthepreviousnight’s
  ecstaticcelebrationscoulddissuade
  theresidentsof Lisbonfrompouring
  ontothestreets.Two open-top buses
  carryingtheEuropeanChampionship-
  winningheroesslowlysnakedalongthe
  avenuesofthe Portuguesecapitalthat

werejammedwith flag-waving,gleeful

andgratefulrevellers,alltheway from

theairport to theheartof thecity.

Havingreachedsixsemi-finalsand

onefinalin WorldCupsandEuropean

Championshipspriorto thissummer’s

tournament,butalwayscomingupshort

whenitmostmattered,itwas common

tohearPortuguesefansexpresstheir

beliefthattheywouldnevergetto

seetheSelecaoliftsilverware. It

wasa sentimentevenmore deeply

entrenched afterthe heartbreakof

losingthe Euro 2 004 final on home

soiltoGreece.

Therepeatedmantra of national

coachFernandoSantosthat“it’sgoing

tobeextremelydifficultfor anybody

tobeat us”perfectlysummed up the

ideologicalshift from beautifulfootball

towinningfootball. Butafter Santosand

hismenbroke thespell– andfor that

reasonalone–notawordofcriticism

wasto be foundinthePortuguese

mediaregardingthe waytheydidit.

TheworkmanlikeJoseFonte,Adrien

Silva andWilliamCarvalhoepitomised

a teamthathadgoneonestepfurther

thanLuisFigo, RuiCosta andDeco

in 20 04.As NunoMadueira,oneof

Portugal’s foremostfootballjournalists

anddirectoroftheMaisfutebolwebsite

putit:“Winninga firsttitleisa bitlike

losingone’svirginity. It’s tooimportant

ing

BELOW:Victory

parade...Portugal’s

historictriumph

toexpectittobeperfect.”

Butit wouldnothavebeen

achievablewithoutthe playersbuying

intothefunctionalfootball philosophy,

andSantosdeserveshugecreditfor

fosteringwhatMoutinhocalled“an

enormousspiritofunityamongthe

squad”.

FrancegoalkeeperHugoLloris

concededitwas a vitalfactorin

Portugal’s triumph,sayingafter the

final:“Portugalhadamazingmental

strengthandspirit.

“Winningthreetimesafterextra-

timetakessomethingspecialinside.”

Asiftoexemplifythe fact,itis

difficulttopickoutany oneplayer

asPortugal’s outstandingperformer

inFrance.Santosusedall 2 0 of his

outfieldplayers,andpracticallyall of

themplayed a significantroleatone

pointoranother.

Whilenotathisbestformuch

ofEuro 2016 , CristianoRonaldo

produceda one-manshowto save

hissideagainstHungary.And while

Santosmay have beenthemaster

strategist,Ronaldocametothe fore as

a true leaderofmen– notsomethinghe

isoftenlaudedfor.Forcedtocontribute

ina differentwayin thedecisive match,

thecaptainansweredthecall– and

thensome.

Devastated at failingtoshakeoff

Couldvictory at Euro 2016 signalthestartofsomething

specialforPortugal?TomKundertreportsfromLisbon

Champions’