It was a final that may not live long in the memory for the quality of football on display.
A bad final to end a modest tournament. Perhaps it was fitting, then, that its winners — via an extra-time goal from a former Swansea striker — are a team who finished third in their group and lifted the trophy after winning just one game out of seven over 90 minutes.
Portugal deserve credit for their pluck, but that is about it. They lost their captain and best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, to a knee injury caused by a Dimitri Payet challenge midway through the first half. It was bad luck, nothing else. It was a firm challenge by the West Ham player, but not a foul.
After that, Portugal simply hung on and hoped that they may get a break. They didn’t. They hoped that they may get to extra-time. They did, and then somehow they won it.
But the culmination of Euro 2016 may well be remembered for an unusual pitch invasion during the game between hosts France and Portugal when moths swarmed the Stade de France stadium in Paris.
A bad final to end a modest tournament. Perhaps it was fitting, then, that its winners — via an extra-time goal from a former Swansea striker — are a team who finished third in their group and lifted the trophy after winning just one game out of seven over 90 minutes.
Portugal deserve credit for their pluck, but that is about it. They lost their captain and best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, to a knee injury caused by a Dimitri Payet challenge midway through the first half. It was bad luck, nothing else. It was a firm challenge by the West Ham player, but not a foul.
After that, Portugal simply hung on and hoped that they may get a break. They didn’t. They hoped that they may get to extra-time. They did, and then somehow they won it.
But the culmination of Euro 2016 may well be remembered for an unusual pitch invasion during the game between hosts France and Portugal when moths swarmed the Stade de France stadium in Paris.
