After he was sidelined during the July 10 Euro final for a shocking knee injury, Cristiano and Portugal’s trophy were inseparable.
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The two sets of fans also clashed in the stands, with Russian hooligans charging after the English fans in the stands as the match as winding down.
The team in full (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Joshua Kimmich, Jerome Boateng, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro; Toni Kroos, Joe Allen; Antoine Griezmann, Aaron Ramsey, Dimitri Payet; Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Euro 2016 final dismay turned into elation as Portugal secured an “unforgettable” and historic win against France.
But not everyone agreed with the abuse, with at least one poster asking for forgiveness from “all Iranians”.
Portugal showed they are far from a one-man operation against hosts France, defending resolutely and outsmarting France.
At a press conference afterwards, coach Santos could not hide his delight: “First of all, I would like to thank God, the Father, for this moment and for everything in my life”. But my players gave me everything tonight.
“They have quality and ability, along with our coach’s strategy to win”. It isn’t the World Cup trophy, but it is one heck of a start. Of course, the overriding emotion is huge disappointment.
Having watched so many losses, I thought I was jinxing them (a Portuguese trait only Portuguese people will understand) but come 3am Monday morning, I couldn’t tear myself away from it.
“We said we would win it for him and we managed to do that”.
“Today I had bad luck because I had a small injury in the beginning of the teams, but my colleagues did their part – they run, they fight … nobody believed in Portugal but we won”, Ronaldo said.
After the game, Éder told Crossman that he’s proud of being from Guinea Bissau – and proud as well to play for Portugal. I think we deserve this title due to the work we put in, all the players and the staff. Portugal had been wanting this title for so long.
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“It really came down to very fine margins”.
