England and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes that the European Championship final against France is the last opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to win a major football trophy with Portugal and this challenge makes the Real Madrid star more risky.
Advertisement
With France and Portugal in the UEFA EURO 2016 Final, the championship clinching moment is quite close as France has had a better streak between the two nations: Wins – 18, Draws – 1, Losses – 5.
This time, Ronaldo could be in for a disappointment.
“We’re thrilled, we feel like kids”, Griezmann said. Another Zidane penalty in the first half in Munich took the French through to a final they eventually lost in a shoot-out against Italy.
Two other players who suffered heartbreak on the Lisbon pitch were Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvalho.
“It would be great to neutralise him and we need to also limit his influence”.
After the attacks on Paris in November, it will be a night of celebration as Les Blues will raise the trophy as European Champions.
Ronaldo is set to feature as a centre-forward alongside former Manchester United team-mate Nani, as he has done for much of the competition, but his forays out to the left flank will bring him into confrontations with a familiar foe – Manchester City right-back Bacary Sagna. Their Euro 2004 campaign, which Portugal hosted, proved to be even more heartbreaking as they fell to Greece, 1-0, in the final.
France is playing Sunday’s final less than 72 hours after completing a semifinal win against world champion Germany.
France have won their last 10 meetings with Portugal since 1975, including the 1984 and 2000 European Championship semi-finals and the 2006 World Cup semi-final.
France would not be the first to manage it at Euro 2016.
Ronaldo is now 31 and Ferdinand reckons this could be his last opportunity to win silverware in a Portugal shirt.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos on Saturday termed host France as the favorite but expected his side to win Sunday’s final of Euro 2016. “We’re playing better football”.
“Euro 2004 was special – I was just 19 and it was my first tournament”, Ronaldo said after scoring a magnificent header in Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win over Wales. The central defender trained away from his teammates on Friday morning, only doing ball work with a member of the Portuguese staff. Asked about Ronaldo, France coach Didier Deschamps warned: “In football, the major challenge is fighting against speed and his game in the air”. For Deschamps, the key men are strikers Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud.
Paul Pogba went into the tournament as the heir apparent to Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane. The attacks began at the Stade de France where suicide bombers detonated devices after failing to force their way into France’s match against Germany.
Portugal hosted Les Bleus in Lisbon during September previous year, but it was the visitors who finished the match happiest thanks to Mathieu Valbuena’s 85th minute victor.
Mario’s stock has certainly been on the rise in the past year.
Advertisement
“We don’t have the power to solve people’s problems”, Deschamps said, reflecting on the national trauma. “But we have the power to generate emotions and make them forget their worries”. We generate passion and fervor.
