Portugal’s Journey in
UEFA Euro Cup 2016
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| The Portugal national football team in UEFA Euro Cup 2016 |
When Portugal was sitting in the bottom half of the group
standings after playing two consecutive draws with Iceland and Austria, things
weren’t looking exactly hopeful for them. Getting into the round of 16 wasn’t
an easy task as their next encounter was with Hungary who was the group topper.
Their hopes of reaching the round of 16 depended on the parallel match between
Iceland and Austria. Portugal had to win to strengthen their chances of
progressing further in the tournament but all they could manage was a grueling
3-3 draw. Iceland defeated Austria 2-1 in the parallel match which left
Portugal at the third place in its group with a 64%chance of entering the round
of 16.
Portugal barely managed to go ahead but given how it had
performed in the group stages, with more number of goal attempts than any other team
and yet managing a draw every time, not to mention a missed penalty by their
captain Cristiano Ronaldo against Austria; few believed that it would make it
any further in the tournament.
They were up against Croatia, who was fresh from upsetting
Spain 2-1 in their previous game. One didn’t have to be a genius to predict who
would win this game but as it turned out, Portugal handed a defeat to Croatia
by beating them 1-0. The Portuguese were now in the quarter finals where they
were to face Poland. Poland had scraped through to the quarter finals, beating
the Swiss by 5-4 in penalty shootouts. The situation was somewhat similar here;
this game also went as far as the penalty shootouts. The only difference was
Poland was on the receiving end here as they lost to Portugal 3-5 in the
penalties.
Quite amazingly, Portugal had converted its rugged start to
a smooth sailing and was now in the semis. Amazingly still, it was Wales who
were to give them competition. This was Wales’s first major tournament semi
final and the match was widely termed as the “Ronaldo-Bale showdown”. Pepe, the Portuguese defender was sitting this
one out. Wales’s determination was evident as soon as the game began while Ronaldo’s
Real Madrid teammate Gareth Bale’s accurate shot attempts and fierce free-kicks
mesmerized the onlookers. Disappointingly for Wales, Portuguese goalkeeper Rui
Patricio didn’t let any of them get past him. The first goal of the game came
off Ronaldo’s head around the 52nd minute and a second one followed
soon after as Nani deflected one into the goal and booked Portugal a berth in
their second Euro Cup final.
The loss of the 2004 Euro Cup final threatened to repeat
itself as the formidable hosts France made their way to the finals after
beating Germany. It was an eventful match, as befits a final. Cristiano
Ronaldo, the Portuguese captain pursuing his first Euro Cup in his second final
with Portugal, had to go off the field in the 25th minute, very much
against his wishes after being struck in the knee by France no. 8 Dimitri
Payet. The tackle looked clean, but soon after that Ronaldo was on the ground,
clutching his knee tightly and apparently in a lot of agony. He went off the
field twice temporarily to get treatment before reluctantly embracing the fact
that he wouldn’t be able to play the rest of the match. He strapped the
captain’s armband to Nani and was carried off on a stretcher as Portugal’s
hopes dimmed even further at the departure of their captain. Ronaldo was
substituted by Ricardo Quaresma.
Even though no goals had been scored yet, the French were
looking stronger with 60% possession and more than twice the no. of passes of
Portugal. They were continuously attacking but it was Rui Patricio who fended
off every one of those attacks and managed to keep his team afloat. Portugal
tried to gain the upper hand as they brought the possession ratio to 45-55. The
match was in the extra time of the second half and France almost won the
tournament in the 90+2nd minute when substitute Gignac hit the
goalpost. Millions had their hearts in their mouths as the ball was cleared off
the Portuguese half. Turned out that was the closest they could get to the
Portuguese net. Soon, the 90 minutes were over with a goal yet to be scored.
The first half of the extra time showed the same picture as
the rest of the match but it was in the second half that the real action, the
climax, took place. In the 108th minute, French player Koscielny was
erroneously booked for a handball even though he profusely denied touching the
ball. The replays corroborated his pleas as the ball had clearly been deflected
off Eder’s hand. Who knew that touch to the ball could prove so lucky.
It was Guerreiro who took the free kick in place of the
unavailable Ronaldo. It was a real good chance of scoring and the trajectory
seemed to be perfect until the ball hit the bar and bounced away from the net. Many
fans might have thought this as an indication that the game would go into the
penalties if Portugal could hold its nerves. However, it did something more
than that as Eder shot the ball straight into the corner of the net, inches
away from the fingertips of the French goalie Lloris.
Screams of euphoria erupted in the stadium as the Portuguese
began celebrating. Even Ronaldo with his bandaged knee didn’t show any signs of
being injured as he jumped with joy. Every second after the 109th
minute was like an eternity to a supporter of Portugal as the French, Les Bleus
became more desperate in their attacks. They even managed to give Portugal
quite a scare in the last moments of the game but the newly found energy of the
Portuguese didn’t let them score.
It’s not over until it’s over. Fans and players, substitutes
and coaches alike sat with bated breath, waiting for the final whistle from the
ref and there it was. Portugal had emerged as the winner of this edition of the
UEFA Euro Cup and how so! They defied every expectation and played spiritedly,
without any sign of dejection even after losing their captain in the early
stages of the game. It was a very emotional evening for Cristiano Ronaldo as he
experienced the journey between two extremes - from complete despair after
leaving the field on a stretcher to an overwhelming sense of joy and
satisfaction as he lifted the trophy on the evening of 11th July
2016.
The star of the match was undoubtedly Eder who sealed the
win for Portugal with a stunning goal but it was as a unit that Portugal gave a
head-on competition to the favorites, France. Unfortunately, France could not
break the 32-year old curse of a host nation never winning the title. The last
time it happened was in 1984 when it was none other than Les Bleus themselves who
had won the title and they had a chance to repeat the feat, but a highly
inspired Portugal side didn’t let them do it and so, the curse would carry on
for four more years.
One couldn’t help but feel sorry for the French team and
especially for Antoine Griezmann, who was awarded the golden boot, having
scored 6 goals, which is the second most of all time in a single edition; the
record held by his compatriot Michael Platini with 9 goals in the 1984 edition.
It was a match worthy of being called a final; exciting,
eventful with fierce competition from either side leading to a nail-biting
finish. For Portugal, this was surely a journey of finding its spark which it
seemed to have lost in the initial stages of the tournament, but it showed
everyone what can be achieved when you do find it. Many congratulations to the
Portugal team and sympathy to the French team. We hope you continue to play
well and entertain us and we look forward to seeing the both of you battling it
out on the pitch soon!
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| The Portugal team celebrates its win over France |
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