It was finally the D-day for all Euro fans and righty so both the finalists France and Portugal were in front of each other to witness the most exciting ninety minutes of soccer and why not after all there had been countless debates over TV talking about the course of the game and who should win it but it was finally the fans who wanted to see how their star players are going to deliver in the most awaiting finish of the game. Against all the odds Portugal eventually managed to overcome the hosts in the extra time despite the fact that their star forward Rolando was not in the field as he was ousted from the game midway through the first half for an injury. Even after his absence, both teams proved why they are the ruling champions of the game and when game looked to be entering into the penalty shootout, it was 28-year-old Eder who cut the French defense and struck a low range shot from around 25 meters past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the 109th minute at the Stade de France to take his side one goal away of the hosts which later proved to be the decisive one.
It was like the retaliation from Portugal who lost the last Euro final to Greece on home soil and this time they got the opportunity to answer all the critics why everything went wrong for them four years ago. Talking about the game and how tough it was, Portugal defender Pepe said, “It was tough because we lost our main man and we had all our hopes pinned on him because he’s a player who can score a goal at any minute. When he said he couldn’t go on, I tried to tell my teammates that we have to win it for him. That we were going to fight for him.”
Post win, the unfortunate starlet who had to leave the field for an uninvited injury, Ronaldo said, “Today I had bad luck because I had a small injury in the beginning of the teams, but my colleagues did their part — they run, they fight … nobody believed in Portugal but we won.”
Moreover, Eder, who scored the only goal of the game, revealed Ronaldo was hoping to score the Euro 2016 winner before game, he said, “(He) told me I would score the winning goal for the team. He gave me this strength, this energy and it was vital. It was a goal I’ve been working for from the first minute of the Euros. For all the work we did, for all of the Portuguese, it’s fantastic. It’s well deserved and we should all be congratulated.”