It was sometime around 2:49 AM IST when Eder’s long distance shot landed at the back of the French net. It was the 109th minute and France knew that was it. The ultimate dream has come true.
Portugal won their first major international trophy. They had Eusebio, they had Figo but they required a Cristiano Ronaldo to achieve the glory. This has been a fairy tale tournament for Portugal. At the onset no one would have thought they would be there in the finals leave aside being the champions but now they are the topmost team in Europe.
The final was nothing less than a fairy-tale too. From the onset of the match it was clearly evident that France was the team with a complete upper hand. They had most of the ball possession and had a couple of attempts at the Portugese goal itself in the first 20-25 mins. Portugal was on the other hand struggling the control the ball in the midfield and there was no supply to their forward line. The Portugese defence and goalkeeper were being tested and they did a good a job to hold Griezmann and company.
Then around the 25th minute France committed the mistake which backfired form them somewhat from the psychological aspect. France was very clear than Ronaldo is the person who could make a difference between the two teams in favour of Portugal. It cannot be clearly told whether the act was pre-planned or otherwise, but Payet committed a vicious foul on Ronaldo. The referee somehow missed the act which was committed without the ball being there. He was carried off the field in stretcher.
Now after this anyone would have thought that the game was over Portugal but no that was not to be. This on the contrary rejuvenated the entire team. They stood as a team and seemed wanted to get the job done for their best man.
Both teams played equally good football with France having the upper hand most of the time. A very good work was done by the Portugese defence specially Pepe and their goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Ronaldo was seen to limp back to ground towards the end of the 90 mins and almost take up the role of the assistant coach. He was limping along the side-line egging his team, providing tips, shouting encouragement. During the breaks he walked up to every team mate and did the pep talk. It was truly encouraging to see that as a player even though he was taken out of the field, he was still there in the game and tried to motivate the team.
Griezmann was unlucky to be beaten the second time this year in a major final after the Champions League loss; both featured Ronaldo on the other side. Ronaldo made and break number of records as usual. But what stood out was his passion and commitment. As per some statistics that was the first time in 10 years than Ronaldo had to be substituted in an international match which in itself speaks volume of his abilities.
As for the Messi vs Ronaldo debate, any conclusion is definitely hard to arrive. But for now Ronaldo has an international triumph to his credit which Messi is yet to have and may never have unless he decides to motivate himself out of retirement for Moscow 2018.
Till Argentina gets one, will cherish this one for Portugal and Ronaldo.
The final was nothing less than a fairy-tale too. From the onset of the match it was clearly evident that France was the team with a complete upper hand. They had most of the ball possession and had a couple of attempts at the Portugese goal itself in the first 20-25 mins. Portugal was on the other hand struggling the control the ball in the midfield and there was no supply to their forward line. The Portugese defence and goalkeeper were being tested and they did a good a job to hold Griezmann and company.
Then around the 25th minute France committed the mistake which backfired form them somewhat from the psychological aspect. France was very clear than Ronaldo is the person who could make a difference between the two teams in favour of Portugal. It cannot be clearly told whether the act was pre-planned or otherwise, but Payet committed a vicious foul on Ronaldo. The referee somehow missed the act which was committed without the ball being there. He was carried off the field in stretcher.
Now after this anyone would have thought that the game was over Portugal but no that was not to be. This on the contrary rejuvenated the entire team. They stood as a team and seemed wanted to get the job done for their best man.
Both teams played equally good football with France having the upper hand most of the time. A very good work was done by the Portugese defence specially Pepe and their goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Ronaldo was seen to limp back to ground towards the end of the 90 mins and almost take up the role of the assistant coach. He was limping along the side-line egging his team, providing tips, shouting encouragement. During the breaks he walked up to every team mate and did the pep talk. It was truly encouraging to see that as a player even though he was taken out of the field, he was still there in the game and tried to motivate the team.
Griezmann was unlucky to be beaten the second time this year in a major final after the Champions League loss; both featured Ronaldo on the other side. Ronaldo made and break number of records as usual. But what stood out was his passion and commitment. As per some statistics that was the first time in 10 years than Ronaldo had to be substituted in an international match which in itself speaks volume of his abilities.
As for the Messi vs Ronaldo debate, any conclusion is definitely hard to arrive. But for now Ronaldo has an international triumph to his credit which Messi is yet to have and may never have unless he decides to motivate himself out of retirement for Moscow 2018.
Till Argentina gets one, will cherish this one for Portugal and Ronaldo.
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