Portugal fans and former players believe it is time to end that quest, but history says France have the edge.
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Ronaldo became the first player to score in four European Championship finals and despite failing to fire on all four cylinders the Real Madrid star is an omnipresent danger.
Ronaldo wept teenage tears after Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Greece in the Euro 2004 final and at 31, he knows he may not get a better chance of success with his country.
Portugal: Rui Patricio, Cedric Soares, Raphael Guerreiro, Joao Mario, Andre Gomes, Renato Sanches and Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani. Everyone knows them very well. “I think Portugal will win”, he noted.
“It’s up to us to focus on winning games and we want to win this final to make the French people happy”.
France are the obvious favourites and if history is anything to go by, then the hosts are going to lift the trophy as they have won a FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro that was hosted in France.
Portugal will be looking to keep up their defensive resilience against a technically-gifted French side, and with the counter-attacking potential they have at their disposal, Santos will be looking at his forward players to hurt the hosts with efficiency in front of goal.
“Nobody will be thinking about this, neither on the France or Portugal sides”.
Their record in major tournament games at the final venue – the Stade de France – is also stellar.
The outcome could depend heavily on the two men wearing the number seven shirt – Portugal’s Ronaldo and France’s Griezmann, who faced each other in the Champions League final six weeks ago.
Leading the charge for Portugal will be captain Cristiano Ronaldo, with much of the pre-match build-up focusing on the prospect of a personal duel between himself and France’s tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann.
It cast a black shadow over the tournament, but following a joyous semi-final victory over Germany, France aim to prevail in a third major final on home soil after the 1984 European Championship and 1998 World Cup.
“We need to seize this opportunity without thinking about what might happen afterwards”.
“I’ve played against Griezmann several times in Spain”, Pepe said through a translator. The team failed to win a match in 90 minutes of regulation play until the semi-final. This is their story. I’m a part of it, of course, because I’m the coach. I play at the highest level.
“He’s a really great player with athletic quality, particularly in the air”. Like us, they were criticised at the start of the tournament. Their defensive triangle is solid. But the journey and essence of these two teams are very different, actually they are polar opposites.
They have won other trophies and titles – the 2000 Euros and the Olympic gold medal in the football event of the 1984 Olympic Games.
France also beat Portugal in a friendly in Lisbon as recently as last September and won 2-1 with goals from Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba in a friendly at the Stade de France in October 2014.
“France are at home, they’re in the final and they have a lot of potential”.
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It has taken six years for France to regain the adulation of its fan base.
