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| Sub Eder on top of the world |
In a Euro tournament that saw 21 of the 50 matches go into halftime scoreless (3F-Portugal participating in three of them), why would the final be any different? For a 3F-Portugal team that tied five of their six matches after 90 minutes, why would the final be any different? For a 1A-France team that has hosted two major tournaments in the past 32 years and won both, why would the final be any different? Uh, on that last one... A scoreless first half and a 0-0 tie after regulation were par for the course for the Portuguese (though France's Andre-Pierre Gignac late stoppage time twirl just hit inside the left post and ricocheted out) who had to play without captain Cristiano Ronaldo who left in the 25' due to a knee injury. France had the better of the few opportunities but after the 1st half of extra time, ran out of gas. A minute after POR's Raphael Guerreiro hit the cross bar on a direct free kick that shouldn't have been theirs (one of the few blown calls by the ref - handball on the wrong team), POR's Eder takes it in and hits a two-bouncer 25-yard shot that just beats the keeper for the only score of the night.
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| Moths had more fun than the fans |
Ronaldo went on a roller-coaster ride by starting the match with high anticipation and pressure, in tears after being knocked down hard in the 8' and eventually having to call for his own sub in the 25' (
a la moth), and in tears again after Portugal won its first major trophy. France started off the match well but it seems the Ronaldo injury sucked the energy
