That is, the Portugal side won its first major tournament ever. On France's home turf, Saint Denis, the Les Bleus were expected to walk away with the UEFA 2016 Trophy, especially after defeating Germany in the semifinals last week. Portugal, having backed their way into the finals by playing 3 consecutive games that ended in ties, defeated Wales to make the final.
Captain Christiano Ronaldo, 31, was the standard bearer of the side, and he was expected to lead the charge against France. However, in the opening minutes, he was injured, and despite 2 attempts to play on, he had to be carried off in the 25th minute. This energized the Portugal team, and they began to play with higher intensity. This did not translate into a scoring binge, but instead, caused France to struggle against a solid defensive effort that frustrated Les Bleus at every turn. As luck would have it, France' shots were bounding off the goal poles coming back into play. The Portuguese goalie stopped many accurate shots to send the game into extra time. After the first 15 minute period, it looked to all that this game would be settled by a shootout of PKs. And then: crossing to the middle, a young Portuguese player found the back of the net with a direct shot that skidded across the turf into the goal: 1-0, for Portugal. And that's the way it ended.
Capitan Ronaldo was able to hoist the Cup at the victory celebration that followed. The roar from Lisbon could be heard across the continent, even in London.
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