France 0 Portugal 1
Eder did the business.
Amazingly, a Swansea squad player scored his first goal of the season in the last match of 2015-16.
After coming on as sub for Portugal in extra time.
“It’s a funny old game, Saint”, as Jimmy Greaves used to say.
As the players tired, it looked as if one of the subs might score the all-important goal.
Sunday night’s final turned on a two-minute period when right back Sagna took two throws in the second period of extra time.
Sagna took threw the first one ball infield and a Portugal player headed it forward and Moutinho volleyed forward again and the ball hit an arm and referee Mark Clattenburg booked Koscielny, although the ball had hit Eder.
Clattenburg gave Portugal a free-kick and it looked as if Quaresma would take it until left back Raphael Guerreiro clipped the ball over the wall and hit the underside. As the ball bounced down, keeper Hugo Lloris was collapsing into the back of his net, nowhere near it.
Raphael’s free-kick, which should have been awarded to France, hit the bar in 18 minutes and 25 seconds.
Moments later Sagna now propelled the ball down the touchline and Portugal won it and sub Moutinho slipped the ball forward to sub Eder.
He shook off Koscielny and powered towards the D and fired a Eusebio cannonball which may have clipped the left calf of Umtiti, who had backed off nervously.
The ball skidded low across the turf and beat Hugo Lloris all ends up.
Once again, a late goal was scored by a substitute.
Eder, born in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, once a Portuguese colony, moved to Portugal as a child.
When the final kicked off Portugal were extremely jittery.
The first two minutes were all France and the first six looked like a massacre in the making.
And then we saw an utterly bizarre and inexplicable incident : Ronaldo stood in the middle of the pitch with the ball under his studs, with Payet a few yards away. What was Cristiano Superstar doing? Did he expect Payet to ask for a selfie with him?
Payet made a fair tackle, poking the ball away from under Ronaldo’s foot and his trailing leg followed through and caught Ronaldo’s standing leg awkwardly. Ronaldo fell down in pain, went off to have it strapped up, tried to continue from the 21st minute, but could not run, and went off again.
Shortly after Ronaldo went off for the first time, Griezmann measured a beautiful header and the ball was dropping just under the crossbar when Rui Patricio made a good tipover.
Early on it looked as if Portugal would be completely out-muscled by Matuidi, Sissoko and Pogba in centrefield. But in the 13th minute, Portugal had suddenly found the confidence to start passing the ball in their own half. Before that they’d been unrecognisable: I’d never seen any team start a final so nervously.
Sissoko was France’s best attacker, making powerful bursts forward and Rui Patricio did well to save from him in 22. When a cross was cleared to by France to the edge of the box, midfielder Adrien Silva volleyed wide.
Silva, born in Angueleme, in south western France, has been playing for Lorient but signed for Borussia Dortmund before this tournament started
After Ronaldo went off on a stretcher, Nani was deployed down the middle, with Ricardo Quaresma on the right, and Silva just behind him. When Renato Sanches started a lovely move by the reds, racing past blue shirts, things started to look up for the underdogs, who won a corner which Fonte met but headed over.
Glenn Hoddle said Portugal’s shape-change has helped a lot.
Didier Deschamps, the man Eric Cantona called “the water-carrier”, had gone for power but wasted the creativity of Paul Pogba by playing him far too deep. On a night when Giroud was so quiet, Pogba’s explosive thrusts were needed in the front third.
At half-time, the BBC’s Thierry Henry said that France now needed the pace of Kingsley Comam, Rio Ferdinand said they needed width, Ryan Giggs noted that, “Sissoko’s clearly got a license to go wherever he wants.”
Roy Keane said, “Portugal will be quite happy. As the game goes on, the pressure will be on France.”
When the second half started and Sissoko clattered Pepe, Clattenberg didn’t give him the yellow card he deserved.
Coman, the 20-year-old Bayern winger, replaced Payet after 58, Joao Mario got a yellow card for a foul on Giroud, and by 64 the game had clearly entered the Zone Of Fear, where one mistake could lose the final.
When Coman crossed, Griezmann glanced the ball just over the crossbar.
Moutinho replaced Adrien Silva in 66, winning his 90th cap.
By now Coman, a streak of blue lightning, seemed likely to produce a goal. But when he slipped in Griezmann, Rui Patricio made another good save.
Then Gignac came on for Giroud, big Eder replaced Renato, and Nani had a very ambitious shot clawed away by Hugo Lloris. Nani had aimed his cheeky, dipping shot very precisely. Then Quaresma had an overhead kick saved by Lloris.
In 82, Nani hit a high-velocity left-foot shot that flew well wide and Sissoko replied with a thunderous strike which Rui Patricio, diving to his right, palmed away.
In 92, Gignac sat Pepe down but scuffed his shot against the near post.
In the break before extra time, Rio Ferdinand said Portugal were waiting for penalties. But unsung centre forward Dede decided not to wait for penalties, preferring to get the ball and smash in the shot that ended the game.
VERDICT:
Well done! Pepe and Rui Patricio were colossal.
Portugal played much better after Ronaldo went off. Now they didn’t have to defer to their superfamous egotistical captain/goal-machine/legend. They just had to get on with playing their patient defensive passing game and figuring out how to win by themselves.
It was a close-run thing, in keeping with their entire tournament, since Portugal qualified third in Group F, below Hungary and Iceland, after three draws.
Seeing Portugal play better after Ronaldo went off was like watching England play better after Rooney went off.
The story isn’t that France lost for the first time ever to these opponents.
The story is that Portugal won their first-ever major trophy in Paris when Eder scored a spectacular goal in extra time.