The 31-year-old Portugal captain has the chance to win the first worldwide title of his glittering career when his side take on the tournament hosts at Stade de France.
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France acknowledge they will have to limit the Portuguese star as much as possible.
“I’ve played against Griezmann several times in Spain”, Pepe said through a translator.
The Euro 2016 final is about to go down and we are here to fill you in on all things soccer as the huge event is just days away! His first call-up came in Santos’s first match – a 2-1 loss to France in a friendly at the Stade de France.
France are clearly the favourites to beat Portugal and win the Euro 2016 final on Sunday night.
“They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them even though it hasn’t been simple, it has even been tough at times”. At that age, you expect you will get back to another final soon to rectify what happened but he has had to wait 12 years for his chance.
“Football is by no means an exact science, it comes down to very small margins, but once you’ve done everything, once you’ve given everything, people have no regrets and we’re really driven forwards by this mindset on a daily basis”.
Whereas some football pundits have said the quality of the Portugal-France final is not likely to rival the semi-final match between France and Germany, chances are it just might.
But France’s pedigree in finals is far stronger than Portugal’s, particularly at home where the prize was collected at the 1984 European Championship and 1998 World Cup.
“We know if we give our nation something to be proud of, this is the end result”, said Coleman. No European player in the modern era could claim to have been at the top for so long.
“I remember his reaction but I think he was a bit too young to take it all in”.
“In football, the most hard things to fight against are pace and aerial ability”.
“It would be great to neutralise him and we need to also limit his influence. That will be important to do”. Even if Portugal can snuff out Griezmann, Dmitiri Payet, the stand-out performer in the earlier rounds, can change a game in seconds.
“I congratulated them on their run”, Ronaldo told reporters. “We know the whole country is behind us, so we’re giving everything for them”. “Now we have one more step to take. but we’re preparing well for battle against a formidable opponent”. “I hope we will make it a handsome end”.
“He has always been wonderful on the ball but even when he first joined United in 2003 he was great in the air too”, he said.
Barcelona linchpin Messi retired from global football in huge frustration after Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the Copa America final on June 27.
While this might not be the end for Ronaldo with Portugal, he will be 35 by the time UEFA EURO 2020 comes round and this could be his last shot at worldwide glory. We’ve always dreamed of getting there and I’ve always dreamed of winning a trophy with Portugal. But if he can guide Portugal to victory over France he will have made the most of other players’ talents too, dragging a team up to his level, the ultimate achievement for an individual in this team sport. That seminal triumph at France’s home World Cup had an estimated one million people pouring into the streets around Champs Elysees.
“It’s unique, a feeling of joy, because being in a final is something I wanted to achieve again”.
“My only focus is on playing this final”, Mario said, avoiding discussing his club career at the Portugal training base south of Paris.
“In a final anything can happen”.
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“I judge my team by whether we play well or badly, not by whether we are pretty or ugly”, he said at one point during Euro 2016.
