However determined Ronaldo was to lead Portugal to glory, his left knee could cope no more and he was carried off on a stretcher midway through the first half.
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Ronaldo didn’t have a say in the outcome of the final against France as he was stretchered off tears after just 25 minutes, but he has taken centre stage in the team’s celebrations.
More heartache followed in 2006, when the team that had stumbled at the final hurdle of Euro 2004 on home soil lost in the last four of the World Cup.
According to Forbes, Ronaldo earned $88million (£66m) in the past year, the same amount as United States television host Dr Phil McGraw and $6.5m (£4.9m) more than Barcelona rival Lionel Messi, who was eighth on the list.
The 31-year-old’s teammates did not seem bothered by his off-key effort reverberating from the speakers though as they happily sang along and danced with the Real Madrid attacker.
France misfired. Their striker Antoine Griezmann, highest goalscorer of the tournament, could not penetrate the Portugal defence.
Paris: France coach Didier Deschamps said his team had wasted “a big chance” to become Euro 2016 champions after falling 1-0 to Portugal in Sunday’s final.
Griezmann’s teammate and West Ham player Dimitri Payet found a place in the team for his instrumental role in France’s campaign, but that was surprisingly France’s contribution to the team. But they could not break down a Portuguese defence in which man-of-the-match Pepe was majestic and goalkeeper Rui Patricio produced a string of dramatic saves. We did not see too much of him otherwise. He was beaten to top spot in the scoring charts by Antoine Griezmann, who netted six times for France.
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WALES’ Euro 2016 heroes Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen have both been selected in UEFA’s team of the tournament, but star man Gareth Bale has missed out.
