Portugal are the champions of Europe and they owe much of their success to the brilliance of their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has won the English Premier League title thrice with Manchester United, a La Liga title with Real Madrid and lifted the Champions League cup on three occasions (twice with Madrid and once with Manchester United).
However, one thing lacking in his trophy cabinet was an international medal for his country, Portugal. He last made it into the final of the Euros in 2004 in his early days where he lost out to the underdog Greece. Since then it had been a bumpy road for the Portuguese side. But not anymore.
Portugal came into the Euros unbeaten in the qualifying rounds and took a steady start in the group stages where they drew 3 out of their 3 matches against Iceland, Austria and Hungary. They faced an in form Croatian team in the round of 16. After a goal less 90 minutes the match went to extra time and Portugal managed to nick the goal in the dying stages courtesy of a counter attack by Ronaldo Nani and finally Quaresma. The opponents didn’t get any easier, they later faced Lewandowski’s Poland in the Quarter finals. A match that saw one of the fastest goals in Euro history, Portugal came from behind to draw level and took the match to penalties which the Portuguese won 3-5. Portugal headed in to the semi-finals without having won a game in regulation time. Portugal also carried the tag of being a one man squad. The defied all odds and all tags when they beat Wales in the semis 2-0. Both Ronaldo and Nani scored. Ronaldo was the joint 2nd top scorer with 3 goals and a couple of assists.
The final on Sunday saw them playing against the hosts French who came into the final, having beaten the world champions Germany by a good 2 goals. Portugal had reached this stage 2nd time and wanted to make it count while the French had previously won the world cup on their home turf in 1998. In a game that was pre dominantly dull and lack lustered due to the jostling in the midfield, the Portuguese captain had to leave the pitch after a collision with Dimitri Payet early in the first half. Ronaldo left the pitch with tears and emotions however his exit sparked inspiration amongst the Portuguese who worked hard and earned themselves a goal thanks to Eddar in the 109th minute.
In many ways, the final was a shut up call to the many doubters of both Ronaldo and Portugal. Ronaldo’s exit showed that Portugal isn’t a one man squad. Much accolades were spared for Pepe too whose terrific defensive performance kept out Giroud, Griezmann and a strong Sissoko. Rui Particio kept 4 clean sheets and Portugal in the tournament.
Portugal hence proved that you don’t have to play eye catching football to win. Portugal got the basics right and that is what won them the title.
