Adelmo Fernandes
Eder’s low shot in extra time may have given Portugal their first European championship with a 1-0 victory over France despite the absence of injured superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. But many neutral football fans will probably agree that France was a better team on the day. They played total football but what denied them an early goal was the superlative saves by the Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio. The woodwork also came in the way of giving France a goal. But then it must be said that a shot from a Portuguese striker also hit the France goal-post.
Be that as it may, France put up a better performance as statistics will show. They had more of the ball possession, completed more passes, and had more shots on targets. What separated the two teams was the one goal that was scored in the extra time by Eder. But in football it is not always the better team that wins but the team which succeeds to put the ball at the back of the net.
Having said that nothing can be taken away from the Portuguese team who fought like lions despite the fact that their main scorer, their inspiration and captain Cristiano Ronaldo had to be stretchered away in the 25th minute after a heavy challenge by the French player Dimitri Payet which looked more like a tackle to injure Ronaldo and not to gain possession of the ball. However surprisingly, the referee did not even blow the whistle for foul play. Hopefully Ronaldo has not suffered any serious injury.
It must be said that Euro Cup has thrown some new superstars in the football world. With the exit of Lionel Messi and the Czech Republic captain and goalkeeper Petr Cech, the world has seen new football stars in Gareth Bale of Wales, Antoine Griezmann of France, the 18-year-old wonder-boy of Portugal Renato Sanches, Shakiri of Switzerland who probably scored the best goal of Euro 2016, an overhead bicycle kick, Dimitr Payet and Paul Pogba of France, Pepe of Portugal Toni Cross of Germany and of course the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The world will see more of these superstars in the coming years.
