Togetherness key to Portugal's shock Euro 2016 success
Before the Portuguese squad were running onto the Stade de France pitch in complete and unrestrained delight, those same players were “in shock”.
Cedric Soares has admitted that they found Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half injury a “very, very tough moment” - so the captain himself realised the need for a moment to bring them all together at half-time. Initially crestfallen at having to go off, Ronaldo got himself together, and got focused. He gathered the players and told them: “listen people, I'm sure we will win, so stay together and fight for it.”
That speech obviously wasn’t the main reason that Portugal won the Euro 2016 final, but it did reflect the real reason, and enrich the story of both their win and even Ronaldo’s career.
Fernando Santos’ men won because of that togetherness, that unity, that the Real Madrid star emphasised was so important to maintain. That superseded all and, for all the justifiable criticisms of some of Portugal’s approach, is something that is still encouraging in a game now so conditioned by cash at all levels.
Santos did mostly play unnecessarily constrained football, making them one of the most defensive and low-quality sides to have won the competition other than Greece, despite the high quality in the squad and so many promising young players. The manager didn’t really bring out the best in them, and really played the football required of much less talented teams, but he did bring out something else in them.
He brought out a resolve, a spirit, a solidity. That really can’t be faulted, especially when you consider the context of the final.
Even if you think Portugal’s run there was forgiving, the game itself was not. Away to the highly motivated hosts who had so much momentum behind them, Santos’ side then went through the trauma - and, from the way players like Soares described it, this really was a trauma - lost the star player around whom everything was based.
The mental effect of that cannot be underestimated. Ronaldo occupies such a huge hold on everything to do with Portugal that his exit did carry the danger of cutting them totally adrift. And there were a few listless moments when it looked like that could be the case, with the Portuguese only saved by the way the stoppage seemed to sap some of the life out of France too. The team still needed to be energised, though, to be lifted.
It summed up so much that was good about them that it was that main individual who appealed to the sense of collectiveness, of unity. It also reflected how there was more of a selflessness to Ronaldo’s entire attitude with this win. This really wasn’t about personal vindication, or just what it meant for him. It was about Portuguese victory. Those close to the squad say Ronaldo has an exceptional relationship with Santos, but that the manager has also got more of a response out of Ronaldo, convincing him of certain on-pitch commitments that would be to the benefit of the team. All of that came to a head.
This was not just about their emotion or togetherness, though. As with all of their knock-out games, Portugal had a clear plan that they executed excellently, so brilliantly frustrating France. That could be seen in how Raphael Guerreiro made more interceptions than anyone on the pitch, with six. Sure, they got somewhat lucky, as illustrated by how Rui Patricio made 35% of his total tournament saves - seven of 20 - in the final.
They also looked to build on that luck, as literally all winners do regardless of their quality, and infused their plan with the type of intensity that only the commitment to a greater cause can bring. “We poured our blood, sweat and tears into this,” Pepe said. And evidently a lot more.
The centre-half put so much into the game, to the point of physical exhaustion, that he ended up vomiting on the pitch. It was an illustration of Portugal’s quality that was both grim and glorious - a little like the team. It also reflected how Pepe ended up personifying the side’s actual play more than reality. He just looked so intense and pumped as the teams came out, and that undeniably came across.
That kind of resolve, then, gave way to the ultimate release. It was apt that the winning goal was scored by the often-derided Eder, showcasing yet again that Santos had just got more of his decisions right. He certainly got the team’s attitude right.
"I've always said we're a team," Santos said. "I've always told them we've got great talent but we need to fight more than our opponents, run more than them and be more concentrated than them. We have an amazing group. They've always believed what I told them: that we could win this.”
So did Ronaldo, and they ended up doing it all, after giving it all. “This lifted our souls,” Santos added. That could be seen in the fully deserved fulsome celebration.
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