as the nation prevailed over hostsm France 1-0 to take the Euro
2016 trophy.
The Lille striker, who failed to score in 15 games for Swansea City
last year, rolled Laurent Koscielny before drilling a low shot from
outside the area past a flat-footed Hugo Lloris to carve his place
in Portuguese football history.
And they did so without their talisman and captain Cristiano
Ronaldo, who was carried off midway through the first half with a
knee injury following a reducer tackle from Dimitri Payet.
The Real Madrid star left the pitch in tears to an ovation from the
entire stadium and a sympathetic pat from France manager, Didier
Deschamps.
But those tears turned to joy after Eder’s winner, with Ronaldo
finally casting off the heartache he suffered as a teenager when
Portugal lost the Euro 2004 final to Greece on home soil.
Portugal forged their unlikely path to the Stade de France on the
back of a solid defence as much as Ronaldo’s genius, and Pepe
and Southampton’s Jose Fonte were again immense at the heart
of Fernando Santos’ back four.
Behind them, Rui Patricio was once again an unflustered presence
in the Portugal goal, making a fine early tipover save to keep out
an Antoine Griezmann header and impressing with his handling
and decision-making all match.
They were helped that France’s poster boys Griezmann, playing
his 70th match of a seemingly endless season, and Paul Pogba,
out of position in the N’Golo Kante role, were largely anonymous.
Much of the hosts’ early promise came from Moussa Sissoko, who
seemed to be channelling the spirit of peak-era Yaya Toure with
his direct runs at the heart of the Portugal defence. The Newcastle
midfielder was unlucky not to open the scoring on 34 minutes,
following a feint and turn on the edge of the box from Payet’s
pass that left Adrien Silva flat on his backside, but his shot was
straight at the ever-alert Patricio.
Source:Dailysun
No comments:
Post a Comment