MY OVERVIEW OF THE EURO 2016 FINAL

MY OVERVIEW OF THE EURO 2016 FINAL
Comment by Michael Osareme

He was in possession of the ball, Payet puts in a
fair challenge on him, but catches him with the follow-through, the forward goes to the ground. Ronaldo makes the teary eyed walk to the touchline as the medical staff make a last-ditch effort to try and patch him up. Ronaldo tried to soldier on, but
his night was over. He slams his armband down in disgust, before dropping to the ground, again bringing play to a halt. It's unfortunate to say the least, he was eventually substituted.

The loss of Ronaldo on 25 minutes meant that one of those choices was taken from him and Nani had endured a fruitless night through the middle against Samuel Umtiti and Laurent Koscielny. What Eder gave Portugal was a moment of pure instinct. He
rammed his right-footed drive past Hugo Lloris, giving joy to 11 million of his countrymen.

Maybe the lack of Ronaldo liberated Portugal. He has not always played well at this tournament - he had bad individual games against Iceland, Austria and Poland, and there lingered a suspicion of how
Portugal might get on if only Santos(Portugal's coach) could substitute him. Not in a million years was that going to happen other than in the
circumstances it transpired.

Portugal are worthy champions and they did
it without the man that was supposed to carry them as far as he could. Ronaldo has won enough games for Portugal on his own, it was time they paid him back and they did - Ronaldo finally lifting the Henry
Delauney trophy with Portugal.

As for France, They were unable to put away a Portugal side that made little attempt to win the
game until extra-time. Of course, the loss of their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, understandably affected their approach. Injury deprived them of their talisman, their principal attacking threat. It was hardly surprising then, that they decided to ditch
what little adventure they had displayed before his tearful departure just 25 minutes into the first half.

At that point, it seemed inevitable that France would go on to win the game. They were already dominating possession as it was. With Ronaldo off the field, the prospect of being caught on the break was significantly reduced. However, the hosts
struggled to break down a fantastically well-
drilled Seleccao defence.

Even when openings were created, they were squandered. Antoine Griezmann headed over after being picked out in the middle of the box by Kingsley Coman.
Andre-Pierre Gignac turned brilliantly inside
Pepe only to then scuff his shot onto the
inside of the left post.

Then, when they needed to step up in extra time, to really turn the screw on the Seleccao, France faded. Indeed, it was Portugal who rose to the occasion. They had already gone agonisingly close to a winning goal when Raphael Guerreiro struck the bar
with a fine free kick. Just seconds later, Eder arrowed a low shot into the bottom of Hugo
Lloris' net.

France had everything in their favour. A stellar squad, home advantage, a soft draw, and a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal for 95 minutes of the final and yet Didier Deschamps' men failed to get the job done. There will be nowhere to hide for either the
coach or his players. There can be no valid
excuses. France failed.

Its been so fascinating writing throughout the Euros, wished it never came to an end, which is impossible, hoping to be back next time out on another interesting piece(that, I don't know).

Bracing up myself for the new English premier league season, which kick starts on August 13.

Michael Osareme put this together.

Myk d pundit. Follow on twitter @MichaelImianvan

Ariverderc!!!!!.