The Greatest Euro Matches: France-Portugal (2016)

The European Championship of 2016 in France was expanded to 24 teams from the previous 16. UEFA needed to keep the money machine going, but it also meant that the structure needed to be changed: the top two teams would progress from the six groups, as well as the best third-placed teams. As it turned out, this would have interesting consequences in the tournament. 

France were big favourites in the tournament; the home team was building up a strong team for the 2018 World Cup (that they would go on to win) with a combination of experience and from its immense talent that played in some of the best teams in Europe. 

Hugo Lloris from Tottenham was goalkeeper and captain, while he also had a strong defense organised around Juventus’ veteran Patrice Evra, alongside Bacary Sagna from Manchester City and Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny. The midfield was perhaps the strongest in the world player for player with such superstars as Juventus’ machine Paul Pogba, West Ham’s elegant Dimitri Payet, PSG’s Blaise Matuidi and Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko. A new player was the fantastic Ngolo Kante who counted for almost three players with his enormous work-ratio. Attack was also strong, with Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, as well as the talented youngsters Kinglsey Coman and Anthony Martial from Bayern Munich and Manchester United respectively. The side was managed by the captain of the 1998 World Cup winners, Didier Deschamps. 

 France did not have to qualify, and they won their first stage group surely, but without showing much. They defeated Romania 2-1, Albania 2-0, and a 0-0 tie with Switzerland put them in first spot and a knock-out match against Ireland, which they won 2-1. In the quarterfinals they faced the surprising Icelanders, whom they defeated 5-2, and the semifinals were the first match where one felt they were really tested, as they faced their German archivals who had so often defeated them, but they won 2-0 and were in the final, and all of France were ready to lift the trophy in Paris as they were to face Portugal. 

Portugal had won their qualification group ahead of Albania and Denmark. The Iberian side had a strong team led by the Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo who was widely considered the best player in the world alongside Lionel Messi. But manager Fernando Santos also had other strong players: Pepe from Real Madrid, Monaco’s Ricardo Carvalho, and Bruno Alves from Fenerbahce in defense. In midfield players included Monaco’s Joao Moutinho, as well some extremely talented youths such as William Carvalho and Joao Mario from Sporting, Renato Sanches from Benfica and Andre Gomes from Valencia. Finally, the powerful striking force of Ronaldo was well-complemented with experienced veterans: Nani from Fenerbahce and Ricardo Quaresma from Besiktas. 

There was no doubt it was a powerful team that had ambitions to win their first international tournament after their 2004 debacle at home to Greece in 2004.

But Portugal did not start well in a group they were expected to dominate. In their opening match they only managed a 1-1 against Iceland, who was playing their first match in an international tournament ever, and were equals to the Portuguese stars. In the second match Portugal only managed 0-0 against Austria, and were up against the wall against Hungary in the last match, where after being behind three times they managed to get a 3-3 tie. 

Three points after three ties was not impressive, and with 16 teams Portugal would have been out of the tournament, but with 24 teams they just passed to the knock-out stage as one of the best third-placed teams. It was not elegant, and despite its attacking power Portugal played a defensive and holding style. In the last-16 they defeated Croatia 0-1 after extra time, when Quaresma scored the winner nearly before the penalty kicks. In the quarterfinals they defeated Poland after penalty kicks. Only in the semifinals did Portugal get their first victory in the tournament in ordinary time, when they defeated Wales 2-0, and this was enough to take them to a final against the giant favourites of France. 

Now, the only reason this match is among the greatest matches, is because it was the final where Portugal won its first international senior title. It was in footballing terms an awful match that ended a very disappointing tournament. The greatest drama happened midway through the first half when the great Cristiano Ronaldo got injured and had to be taken out in tears. One has to wonder if this was the best for a Portuguese side that did not play well but fought on as underdogs with heart and soul against a French home side that despite having the ball and the initiative completely lacked ideas and penetration. 

The match ended 0-0 and had to go into extra time, and at this point Portugal seemed to pressure more as they saw their chance against a team that was getting more desperate as time went by. Perhaps Portugal had learnt from their 2004 defeat at home to Greece? 

In extra time the Guinea-Bissau born striker from Lille, Eder, who had come on for Renato Sanches late in the second half, scored the winner on a flat long-shot from outside the area. Portugal were understandably ecstatic for their first title, but for football fans it was a hugely disappointing final of what was perhaps the least memorable European championship ever (unless you are from Portugal or from Iceland).  

Paris, 10th July 2016, Stade de France 
Attendance: 63,170 
Referee: Marc Clattenburg, England 

France-Portugal 0-1 

France: Hugo Lloris (c); Samuel Umtiti, Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra, Bacary Sagna; Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet (Kingsley Coman, 58), Moussa Sissoko (Antony Martial, 110); Olivier Giroud (Andre-Pierre Gignac, 78), Antoine Griezmann. Coach: Didier Deschamps
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Pepe, Jose Fonte, Cedric, Raphael Guerreiro; William Carvalho, Renato Sanches, (Eder, 79), Adrien Silva (Joao Moutinho, 66), Joao Mario; Cristiano Ronaldo (Ricardo Quaresma, 25), Nani.. Coach: Fernando Santos 

Goals:
0-1 Eder (109)

Portuguese tears... of joy!

It is only grudgingly I congratulate Portugal and their fans for their in all manners surprising victory against France in the final of the Euro 2016.
Of course a team that wins a tournament of 24 teams, over seven matches, are to be congratulated and shown respect for their achievement, but indeed Portugal's way to the title was less than glamorous. The only reason they got past 1st round as best 3rd placed team (behind unglamorous Hungary and Iceland) was because there are now 24 teams in the tournament. In the last-16 they won a historically boring match against Croatia (first match without shots on target), and only beat Poland on penalties in the quarterfinals. Indeed, their defeat of Wales in the semifinals was their first (and only) regular victory of the tournament.
The final was an enormous disappointment: the first ever 0-0 in 90 minutes of a Euro final. France started well, but were a disappointment of nerves and lack of pace in front of a rather lame home crowd.
With an early injury for Cristiano Ronaldo everything seemed to be stacked against Portugal, but two  things happened: the team seemed better organized without Ronaldo, and manager Fernando Santos made some brilliant choices to re-adapt his team during the match. Eder, who entered late in the second half instead of the young Renato Sanches (youngest player ever to play a final), scored an excellent winner in the second half of extra time as the match was seemingly on the way to penalty kicks.
Cristiano Ronaldo cried when he had to leave the pitch, but when the match ended he joined the rest of his team in tears of joy for a victory as unlikely as the one suffered by Portugal itself in the final of Euro 2004.
Congratulations, grudgingly, to Portugal.

The Greatest Euro Matches: France-Portugal (1984)

During the 1960s and 1970s French football had gone into decline, but in 1976 Michel Hidalgo became national team coach, and he began building up a team around one of the most talented generations ever in French football. In the 1982 World Cup they played fantastic football and made it to a semi-final against West Germany which remains one of the most dramatic matches in World Cup history. As hosts of the European Championship of 1984 they did not have to qualify, and were huge favourites to win the tournament.
The undisputed star of the team was Michel Platini from Juventus, European footballer of the year in 1983, and soon to become the same in 1984 and 1985. But other brilliant players complemented him: Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana from Bordeaux, were generally considered two of the best midfielders in the world, and along with Platini and Luis Fernandez from Paris Saint Germain, they formed what was considered “the magic square”, the best midfield in the world at the time. On goal, Joel Bats from Auxerre was a solid goalkeeper behind a defense with strong players such as Patrick Battiston from Bordeaux, Maxime Bossis from Nantes and Manuel Amoros from Monaco. Up front the players that had the luxury of benefitting from the “Magic Square” were Bordeaux's Bernard Lacombe or Monaco's Bernard Genghini.
They had been awesome during the tournament: three victories in the first round against Denmark, Belgium and Yugoslavia put them up as huge favourites in the semifinals where they would meet Portugal, who was somewhat of a surprise in their first semifinals in the first European Championship ever.
Portugal had not done any great things since the 1966 World Cup, but had built up a side that would also make it to the World Cup of 1986, and this 1984 Euro was their first. They entered the tournament without huge expectations although everyone had noted that they in qualification had eliminated Poland (1982 World Cup bronze winners) and the USSR. In a group with West Germany, Spain, and Romania, Portugal surprised again: they opened with 0-0 against the Germans and then tied Spain 1-1. A 1-0 victory against Romania was enough to put them in the semifinals.
The Portuguese side was formed purely of players from the country's two big sides, Benfica and FC Porto, except for the veteran striker from Sporting Lisbon, Rui Jordao, who was also one of he most important players on the team alongside the Benfica striker Diamantino. The star of the team was Fernando Chalana from Benfica, still considered one of the greatest Portuguese players of all time and the leading midfield general of the Portuguese. The side was captained by the experienced Benfica goalkeeper Manuel Bento.
As hosts of the tournament France were the undoubted favourites against Portugal, and many considered that the semifinal would be a walkover on the way to the final, but the Portuguese wanted it differently in what would become one of the greatest matches in European Championship history.
In first half things seemed to go as planned for the French who were dominant. After 24 minutes Michel Platini was fouled outside the area, a place where the Frenchman was an expert free kick taker. However, it was not him who scored, it was Toulouse's Jean Francois Domergue.
The only consolation from the first half for the Portuguese was that they were only 1-0 down. In the second half they improved, but France still dominated, but without being able to pass Bento to score a decisive goal. Instead, as often happens in football, Portugal equalised when Jordao scored his first goal of the tournament on a header after a perfect cross by Chalana. This seemed to give the Portuguese renewed heart, but it was Bento who again made a spectacular double save that led to a tie and extra time.
It was now Portugal who seemed to have more energy, and eight minutes into extra time Chalana dribbled elegantly on the right side, made a cross into the French penalty box where Jordao on the far side volleyed the ball into an unlikely Portuguese lead.
Time seemed to move slower for Portugal from that moment, as France put everything into attack. Five minutes before the end Domergue equalised for France when receiving a ball that the Portuguese had been unable to clear. And just one minute from the end Portuguese dreams of a surprise were shattered when Jean Tigana ran through a Portuguese defense, and from the back line centered into an unmarked Michel Platini, who was as cool as an ice-cube when stopping the ball and placing it hard behind struggling Portuguese defenders.
Michel Platini's eighth goal of the tournament and surely his most important, as it put France in a final that they would end up defeating Spain in.
This was perhaps the best match in European Championship history.

Marseille, 23rd June 1984, Stade Velodrome 
Attendance: 54,848 
Referee: Paolo Bergamo, Italy 

France-Portugal 3-2 

France: Joel Bats; Jean-François Domergue, Maxime Bossis, Patrick Battiston, Yvan Le Roux, Luis Fernandez, Michel Platini, Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana, Didier Six (Bruno Bellon, 104), Bernard Lacombe (Jean Marc Ferreri, 64). Coach: Michel Hidalgo
Portugal: Bento; Joao Pinto, Lima Pereira, Eurico, Álvaro, Chalana, António Sousa (Nene, 62), Frasco, Jaime Pacheco, Diamantino (Fernando Gomes, 64), Jordão. Coach: Cabrita 

Goals:
1-0 Domergue (24) 
1-1 Jordão (74) 
1-2 Jordão (98) 
2-2 Domergue (114) 
3-2 Platini (119)