RISEOFRONALDO 63
PORTUGAL
- a penay blasedagains
anAustrianpostanda goal
disallowedforoffside,andan
ungraciousdigatIcelandafter
theyhadtakena pointagainst
Portugal.
Butwhenitmattered
most,Ronaldosteppedupto
becounted.Hetookthefirst
penaltyinthequarter-finalshootout
againstPoland, in contrasttothe 2012
semi-finalagainst Spain,whenheopted
totakethe fifthkickandendedupa
sparepartafterhisteam-matesmissed
theirkicks.And in thesemi-finalagainst
Wales in Lyon,whenpitchedagainst
RealMadridteam-mate GarethBale,
herosetotheoccasion,leapingabove
theWelshdefencetoheadhome
Portugal’s openinggoal.
SuchexploitsmeanthatRonaldo,
thegreatestPortugueseplayer of his
generation,canrightlyclaimtobethe
greatestof alltime.YetPortugal’s
triumphwasachieveddespiteonly
beingintheleadfor 73 minutesofthe
720 theyplayed at Euro 2016 .Portugal
becamethefirstteamtohavefinished
third in theirgrouptogoontowinthe
trophy.They hadneededan injury-
timewinnerinextra-time to overcome
Croatiaina terribleround-of- 1 6 game
where they hadsetouttonullifythe
influenceofCroatia’screativemidfielders
LukaModricandIvanRakitic.Penalties
wereneededtobeatPolandafter
a similarlynegativeapproach.Only
Walesinthe semi-finalwerebeaten
within 90 minutes.
Yet Santosdeservespraiseforhis
tacticaldecisions.Hehas managed
toblenda newgenerationofplayers
- a yearearlier, WilliamCarvalho
andJoaoMariohadlostto Sweden
inthe finalofthe EuropeanUnder-21
Championship– alongsideelder
statesmen like Ronaldo, Naniand
Quaresma.And he didsowithoutthe
new generation’s brightest youngstar,
BernardoSilva,whohadbeeninjured
onthe eveofthe tournament.
Inthe final,Santosreplacedtiring
midfielderSancheswith long-legged
strikerEder. “Whenhecameonhetold
mehewouldscore,” Santossaid.“The
uglyducklingwentand scored.Now
he’sa beautifulswan.”
Ederwill nowberememberedin
thesamemanneraspreviousscorers
ofwinningfinalgoals:OliverBierhoff in
19 96,DavidTrezeguetin 2000 and
FernandoTorresin 20 08.
Portugal,ofcourse,hadexperienced
theirownheartacheas hosts,in 2004,
whenGreecespoiltthepartyinLisbon
andreducedRonaldototears.Nowit
wastheturn of France to feelthe pain
ofdefeatedhosts.Indeed,thehosts
rarelywintheEuros;Francewerethe
lastto triumph on homesoil,in 1 98 4.
Thefinalwas a realclashofstyles:
France’sattack-mindedstrategyagainst
Portugal’s defensive,win-at-all-costs
approach.French headcoachDidier
BELOW:Agony...
Ronaldo’sinjurybefore
beinginstrumental
onthetouchline
Deschamps hadmadea seriesoftactical
changesduringthe groupmatches,
droppingAntoineGriezmannandPaul
Pogba,reinstatingthemandswitching
formationfrom4-3-3to 4-2-3- 1 to
4-4-2.Butin thesemi-final,hestuck
withthesameline-upthathadblown
awayIcelandinthefirsthalfofthe
quarter-final at theStadedeFrance.
LesBleuswentintothefinalstill
sufferingthe effectsof an emotional
hangover from theintensesemi-final
victory over Germanyin Marseille.That
hadbeenbyfarthetournament’smost
excitingandenjoyablematch,played
ina cauldron-like atmosphere in the
StadeVelodrome.
Francebeganbrightlyenoughbut
wereknockedoffcoursebyRonaldo’s
premature departure.WithPortugal’s
talismanremovedfromthecontest,the
hostsproved incapableofforcinghome
theadvantage.Askeyattackerseither
faded(Griezmann)orwereineffectual
(OlivierGiroud)Deschamps made
surprisingsubstitutions,withdrawing
Payet andthehighly-effective (on
thenight,atleast)MoussaSissoko.
LikeLaMarseillaise, thenational
anthemthathadbeensungoutof
syncbydifferentsectionsofthe Stade
deFrancecrowd,theFrench sidewere
unabletomatchthefeatsof their
1984 and 1998 predecessors.
AndwhilePortugal’s triumphinParis
wasnotasbigashockasthatdelivered
byClaudioRanieri’sLeicester City last
seasoninthePremierLeague,itwas
somehowfittingthata playerlikeEder,
ratherthansuperstarCristiano Ronaldo,
turnedouttobethe hero of Portuguese
football’sgreatestnight.
“HistorywillrecordRonaldoascaptain
andfigureheadofthePortugalside
thatwontheirfirst-everseniortitle”
