As the final whistle bellowed across the Stade de France last Sunday, there was an eerie silence across the vast majority of the arena.
The stadium which had been a cauldron of deafening noise for the best past of three hours, had become a chamber of doom and gloom. It was all because Portugal had achieved the unthinkable.
They had surmounted a mountain peak so treacherous that most of us did not think they would be able to trek back to base safely. This, however, was their moment of ecstasy and joy.
As the Portuguese contingent continued to celebrate with their faithful, their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo remained on the sidelines, head in hands, thanking the almighty for making them champions at last.
Almost two hours earlier, Ronaldo was a man who couldn’t help but shed tears with the unfortunate circumstances he found himself in. The moment which he had dreamt of while being an adolescent in 2004 had been cruelly snatched away from within his hands.
How cruel could these footballing gods be?
After 25 minutes of the final, Ronaldo labored and fell to the ground, in anguish and severe pain. The entire world held its breath.
A man revered as the quintessential epitome of athletic endurance had failed on the biggest stage of them all – the European Championship final. Despite the Portuguese hitman going off early, the Portuguese team stuck stubbornly to the commands being given out by their coach Fernando Santos.
They defended resolutely and occasionally hit the French on counter attacks. Paul Pogba and Dmitri Payet, architects in the French midfield, had wreaked havoc among the defences of many other nations in the tournament but had their motors stalled by the gritty Portuguese backline.
The French had flair, finesse and a multitude of chances to win the game with the likes of golden boy Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud spurning chances they would have converted on any other day.
It was as if lady luck had finally answered the Portuguese bells. Griezmann’s header in the early exchanges was kept out by Rui Patricio, who himself had chosen the final to be his match of the tournament by making no less than seven crucial saves.
Giroud’s shot was palmed away by Patricio late on. Portugal had their chances as well with Nani and Joao Mario forcing good saves from Hugo Lloris. As the match wore on, the possibility of extra time loomed large.
In the dying minutes of the game, substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac probably had the trophy in his palms when he crispfully beguiled Pepe and then had Patricio scrambling for his goaline, his shot though careened back out of the upright while the rebound did not fall into the legs of Griezmann.
That’s why they say the difference between winning and losing is measured in inches.
Portugal sent on unheralded striker Eder, a player who had failed to find the back of the net for his club Swansea City during the entire Premier League season.
Some considered it a rash decision by Fernando Santos, others thought he might have just given it away. As the match wore on and the final whistle blew, Ronaldo reemerged from the tunnel trying to invigorate his teammates, especially Eder who was later quoted after the final as saying
“Cristiano told me I would be scoring the winning goal. He and all my teammates,” Eder said.
“He gave me strength and positive energy. And that goal was really important. A lot of hard work went into it. We worked hard from the first minute and right from the beginning of the Euro. We were spectacular. The Portuguese people deserve this.”
During the second period of extra time, he lashed onto a ball from more than 30 yards out, moved across goal and struck a venomous blow that flew passed the hapless Lloris. Portugal knew they had reached the promised land.
Despite his knee being taped up, Ronaldo received his winners’ medal and duly lifted Portugal’s trophy in one of the most unforeseeable circumstances.
Their recalcitrance had paid off, they had metamorphosed from perennial chokers to destined achievers. Their history was filled with heartaches of the Euro 2000 semifinal loss (to France), the infamous loss to outsiders Greece in the Euro 2004 final (on home soil), the World Cup semifinal loss in 2006 (to France, again) and the debacle of the penalty shootout in the Euro 2012 semifinal (to Spain).
They had crossed that mental barrier. They have left behind a folklore which will be talked about for years to come. They have enshrined themselves among the pantheon of footballing nations.
Some might disregard their win down to luck, but they personified perfection on how to play the game of football.
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