[Mhiz Rebecca]

A younger, fitter and stronger Portugal side sans an injured Cristiano
Ronaldo saw off wave after wave off French pressure before scoring
the only goal of the game through the unlikeliest of sources, French
based Portuguese striker Eder, who rifled in a shot from 30 yards past
the outstretched hand of Hugo Lloris in the France goal to give
Portugal a 1-0 win in the Euro 2016 Final.
France, who played their semi-final a day after Portugal, named an
unchanged starting eleven for this game, a decision that would prove
costly in the long run as their players simply ran out of gas in the
latter stages of the contest. Portugal meanwhile welcomed back Real
Madrid star Pepe and young midfield sensation William Carvalho from
injury and suspension, with both men having an absolutely
sensational game.
Amazingly enough the first chance of the game fell to the right boot of
Nani, who snaked into a goalscoring position, but his ambitious first
time effort was high.
The next 20 minutes or so involved the drama of Cristiano Ronaldo's
injury, with the Portuguese legend having suffered a clash of knees
with Dmitri Payet and after two attempts to return to the pitch, the
veteran forward called time on his contribution to the game after 25
minutes, much to the disappointment of the Portuguese fans.
France on their part had made a bright start to the game with
Moussa Sissoko proving their most influential player in midfield. The
Newcastle United midfielder was full of running, and tested Rui
Patricio a few times in the Portugal goal, but the shot stopper proved
equal to everything thrown his way.
The second half continued to be all about France with Golden Boot
winner Antoine Griezmann missing a glorious chance to put the hosts
ahead, planting his header from substitute Kingsley Coman's cross
narrowly over Patricio's crossbar when it looked easier to score. The
Atletico Madrid forward had drawn an excellent save from Patricio in
the first half too from a header, but this time the goal was his for the
taking.
The chances continued to come France's way with Olivier Giroud
having a shot saved by Patricio, while his replacement Pierre-Ander
Gignac could have won it for France late in injury time, hitting the
post with his shot after leaving Pepe on his backside and beating
Patricio at his near post.
Portugal's defence regained its shape in extra time as France began
to tire and when it looked like this match seemed destined for
penalties, Portugal appeared to find another gear, with their French
born left-back Raphael Guerreiro hitting the crossbar from an
erroneously awarded freekick.
Laurent Koscielny, the Arsenal defender, who had just been incorrectly
booked by English referee Mark Clattenburg for a non-existent hand-
ball offence, was shrugged off by Eder, and having just been yellow
carded, couldn't bring him down.
Eder having shrugged off the attentions of Koscielny, took aim and
struck the ball from distance even as rookie defender Samuel Umtiti
jumped and turned his back to the ball. The 28 year old Lille striker's
shot raced off the turf into the corner of Lloris' net, giving the
Tottenham keeper absolutely no chance.
France responded by finally throwing on a fresh player in Anthony
Martial, but even with the extra striker on the pitch, the hosts were
just too rattled and failed to really put together anything of note in the
last 10 minutes.
The match ended 1-0 to Portugal, who celebrated the first ever major
trophy in their history, with Eder writing his name into the history
books forever.
Teams:
France: Lloris; Sagna, Koscielny, Umtiti, Evra; Pogba, Matuidi;
Sissoko (Martial 109'), Griezmann, Payet (Coman 58'); Giroud (Gignac
78').
Substitutes: Jallet, Rami, Kante, Cabaye, Gignac, Martial, Schneiderlin,
Mangal, Mandanda, Digne, Coman, Costil.
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; William
Carvalho; Renato Sanches (Eder 79'), Adrien Silva (Moutinho 67'),
Joao Mario; Nani, Ronaldo (Quaresma 25').
Substitutes: Bruno Alves, Carvalho, Moutinho, Eder, Vierinha, Anthony
Lopes, Danilo, Andre Gomes, Rafa Silva, Eliseu, Ricardo Quaresma,
Eduardo.
Final Score: France 0-1 Portugal (Eder 109')