Allen, alongside his Wales teammates, defied expectation as they reached the semi-final of the European Championships for the first time in their history.
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Joshua Kimmich (Germany), Jerome Boateng (Germany), Pepe (Portugal), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal).
And not much changed in the second half either, with the French depending on Matuidi and Sissoko while Portugal’s Pepe provided leadership as the team defended tenaciously, slowed the game down and tried to survive until they could put together some kind of scoring combination. I want to give my thanks to everyone in the group, the staff and the Portuguese people.
Ronaldo left the field and returned multiple times, trying to continue despite being obviously hobbled.
Ronaldo said: “This is one of the happiest moments of my career”.
But the Atletico Madrid player’s six goals in the competition – three ahead of his nearest challengers – saw him claim a personal accolade. Many might call it a defensive and boring strategy but he did what was needed to help them win their first major trophy.
According to the brand, more than 60 percent of all the players who competed in the Euro Cup were wearing Nike boots. His early header drew a finger-tip save from Rui Patricio. The match also saw skipper Ronaldo subbed in the 25th minute of the match, eight minutes after injuring his knee in a clash with France’s Dimitri Payet, the Guardian reported.
“The disappointment is there and it’s huge”, French coach Didier Deschamps said. He said he would take time to “digest” the disappointment before thinking about his own future.
A 13-man team of technical observers, which included ex-Manchester United managers Alex Ferguson and David Moyes and current England Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate, has selected a team following the conclusion of the tournament in France, which was won for the first time by Portugal on Sunday evening.
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Despite some doubts about the 24-country format, Uefa’s executive committee “praised the competitiveness of the competition” in a statement after a meeting on Saturday.
