Portugal won the Euro 2016!

Portugal are the kings of Europe!

Portugal won their first title from the European championship 12 years after the lost final to Greece! Nobody has expected Fernando Santos’ players can do this, but they put on display very disciplined performance. Portugal were better from a tactical point of view, even though the Frenchmen were more active in attack.

France started pressuring their opponents from the very first minute of the match, but Didier Deschamps’ players missed several good opportunities for goal. Griezmann, who had 6 goals in the tournament before the final game couldn’t put several goal-scoring chances away. Moussa Sissoko was one of the best players on the pitch, dribbling on several occasions through Portugal’s defence, but he was denied by Rui Patricio, who was brilliant in Portuguese goal.

Dimitri Payet’s only remarkable situation was in the 7th minute, when he kicked Ronaldo in the knee and made the super star be subbed out. Andre-Pierre Gignac had a good impact on the game. He came on in the 78th minute and showed he is really good in the air. Gignac had the best chance to score a goal during the regular time, but his shot hit the post.

However, let’s talk about Portugal’s perfect tactics and performance. The goalkeeper Rui Patricio had a great night in Paris. Patricio equalized Peter Schmeichel’s record for most saves in the Euro final -7. Portugal’s defensive approach was also successful because of Pepe, who became the man of the match. The defender of Real Madrid was simply brilliant in defence. He even had the chance to score in the end of the game, but his header went inches wide.

To continue with, Fernando Santos proved he is one of the best football managers! After the first three games from the group stage, in which Portugal conceded 4 goals, Santos changed the scheme to 4-4-2 Diamond and he changed also some of his starting players. He trusted Cedric Soares and Jose Fonte of Southampton. Santos put William Carvalho as a defensive midfielder, which was a very successful move! Portugal started relying on counter attacks, long balls, more crosses and patient playing style, because of which they had to take part in the extra time on 3 occasions, but it’s worth!

The Portuguese coach perfectly timed his substitutions. He was forced to make his first sub during the first half, because of Ronaldo’s injury. However, he brought on Ricardo Quaresma, which meant he didn’t change his tactics. Then, in the 66th minute he brought Joao Moutinho for Adrien Silva and the midfielder eventually provided the assist for the winning goal. The crucial moment of the game was when Fernando Santos brought Eder on. The forward showed great motivation. He won lots of balls in the air, but the most important thing is that Eder managed to score the winning goal and made the difference!

The line-ups:

• Portugal (4-4-2 Diamond): 1. Rui Patricio, 3. Pepe, 4. Jose Fonte, 5. Raphael Guerreiro, 7. Cristiano Ronaldo (25’ 20. Ricardo Quaresma), 10. Joao Mario, 14. William Carvalho, 16. Renato Sanches (79’ 9. Eder), 17. Luis Nani, 21. Cedric Soares, 23. Adrien Silva (66’ 8. Joao Moutinho).
• France (4-2-3-1): 1. Hugo Lloris, 3. Patrice Evra, 7. Antoine Griezmann, 8. Dimitri Payet (58’ 20. Kingsley Coman), 9. Olivier Giroud (78’ 10. Andre-Pierre Gignac), 14. Blaise Matuidi, 15. Paul Pogba, 18. Moussa Sissoko (110’ 11. Anthony Martial), 19. Bacary Sagna, 21. Laurent Koscielny, 22. Samuel Umtiti.

Another reason for Portugal’s success is that the coach Fernando Santos has selected the right people for the tournament. He used almost all of his players (21 of 23). The only players, who didn’t appear on the pitch were the reserve goalkeepers. This means that all Portugal players were fresh, because they didn’t play all the time during the 7 really difficult and long games of the tournament.

Many people may say that Cristiano Ronaldo had a bad tournament, but that is not true! The forward of Real Madrid was really useful to his team! He was usually marked by at least 2 defenders, which didn’t let him dribble a lot! But, he managed to adjust his playing style to the situation. Ronaldo scored twice against Hungary and provided an assist to Nani against Hungary, which was essential to Portugal to proceed to the knockout stage. Then, against Croatia in the Round of 16, Ronaldo’s shot was very difficult for Croatia’s goalkeeper, which let Quaresma score the easiest goal in his career. In the quarterfinals, the forward scored his penalty against Poland. However, his real class was demonstrated in the semi-finals against Wales, when he scored the first goal and assisted for the second.

To continue with, after Cristiano Ronaldo received the injury against France, he was there on the bench for his teammates and gave them really precious advices. The forward’s role on the pitch was way too different from that from 2004, when he was used as a winger. So, we have to admit Ronaldo had a really huge influence on his team!

We were as simple as doves and as wise as serpents.Fernando Santos

We went through a difficult spell after Ronaldo’s injury, because he’s the best player in the world and the most important player for us. But after that he still gave us all his strength and bravery, and we got this important victory, both for him and all of Portugal.Eder

I’d like to thank my coach, my teammates, our wider team in this Euro, the Portuguese people and all the ex-pats who were always with us, cheering for us from the beginning. This is a unique moment for me, for all the Portuguese people and it’s unforgettable.Cristiano Ronaldo