An extra-time goal by Eder saw Portugal beat hosts France 1-0 in Sunday’s Euro 2016 final.
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When Cristiano Ronaldo went off injured after just 25 minutes, the Portuguese prospects of winning a first European Championship suffered a damaging blow.
Hosts France dominated the game, as they had almost every match since the start.
“Today I felt sadness and happiness”.
Matisse, whose father is French and mother Portuguese, says he chose to support his mother’s homeland because Portugal were they underdogs. So as the fans of Portugal celebrated into the night, France fans were left imagining what Euro glory at home would have felt like.
They were later to begin a parade through the city. Ronaldo returned from treatment at the end of 90 minutes to give pep talks to his teammates. After twice going off for treatment and trying to come back, Ronaldo was definitively carried off.
And he has also found the right way to build a team around a genius like Ronaldo.
The tournament, expanded to 24 teams for the first time, produced a few memorable upsets but little in the way of classic football. And Lloris was the latest to raise questions about the manner of Portugal’s wins.
If it takes an ugly win then so be it. The 51 games produced 108 goals, one of the lowest averages for recent worldwide tournaments. The quality was not memorable.
The magical Cruyff and cool finish was picked by BBC pundits Thierry Henry and Rio Ferdinand after being shortlisted by BBC viewers during the final between Portugal and France.
The tournament’s top-scorer with six goals, Antione Griezmann plays behind Ronaldo, with Jerome Boateng, Joshua Kimmich and Toni Kross representing Germany. His early header drew a finger-tip save from Rui Patricio.
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However, not everyone agreed with the diminutive Atletico Madrid man’s selection.
