France coach Didier Deschamps had hoped to lead his country to a fourth major tournament win, and third on home soil after Euro 1984 and the 1998 World Cup, when he was captain. But the sad pain of having to watch from the sidelines turned to tears of joy as Portugal upset the host nation 1-0 on Sunday at the Stade de France. With the 2018 World Cup just two years away, everyone will be looking at the new European champions, wondering whether they can do one better and win the most coveted trophy in the sport.
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Griezmann was selected by UEFA’s 13-strong panel of technical observers, also including Sir Alex Ferguson, Alain Giresse, David Moyes, Packie Bonner, Mixu Paatelainen, Savo Milošević, Peter Rudbæk, Gareth Southgate, Thomas Schaaf, Jean-François Domergue, Ginés Meléndez and Jean-Paul Brigger.
But not as weird as his answer for Cristiano Ronaldo winning the Best Player category.
“We believe that the selected XI represents the best of the competition”.
Soccer threw up another unlikely hero yesterday when journeyman professional Eder scored the goal that won Euro 2016 for Portugal.
It turns out Ronaldo suffered a left knee sprain and could return by mid-August.
“I like Griezmann a lot, but he was not the player of the tournament. He gave me strength and positive energy”.
With 109 minutes gone, Eder beat off a Laurent Koscielny challenge to fire a shot from outside the penalty area that French captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could not get a hand to.
“The disappointment is there and it’s vast”, Deschamps told French television.
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Former France worldwide Frank Leboeuf believes UEFA were misguided in their decision to award Euro 2016 player of the tournament to Antoine Griezmann.
