Euro 2016 Final: ‘Boring’ but organised Portugal poised to spoil the party for ‘favourites’ France

Gritty. Resilient. Effective.

Portugal’s road to the Euro 2016 final has been anything but smooth. For four weeks they have played constrained, counter-attacking football – defensively disciplined but seldom displaying flair. Few would have predicted Portugal to make the finals after their opening 1-1 draw against Iceland, but here they are. They take on hosts and heavy favourites France on Sunday night in Paris, seeking redemption and a trophy that narrowly evaded them in 2004.

To trace Portugal’s path to Stade de France in Saint-Denis, we need to go back two years to September 2014, when the qualifying process for the European Championship got under way. Portugal were placed in a group with Albania, Denmark, Serbia and Armenia and they started their campaign with a disastrous loss to Albania. Four days after the defeat, coach Paulo Bento resigned and Fernando Santos took over the helm.

Known as ‘O Engenheiro’ (the engineer) in Portugal, for his love for maths and engineering degree, the former player began his mission to revive Portugal’s fortunes after a poor World Cup. His methodical and defensive approach was soon reflected in the team’s results, with Portugal winning the rest of their matches in qualifying. They ended up topping the group, but none of these victories were achieved by more than a one-goal margin – a trend that would continue in the Euro 2016 finals.

For the final stage in France, Santos picked a squad of two extremes – young, talented players yet to make their debut on the big stage and experienced veterans on the last legs of their careers. Led by Cristiano Ronaldo, the Selecçãos were placed alongside Austria, Hungary and Iceland in Group F for the finals of the new, expanded 24-team format. As the only traditional heavyweights in this group, they were expected to finish first.

However, after leading for 19 minutes against Iceland in their opening group match, things went off the rails for the Portuguese. Birkir Bjarnason’s volley deflated Ronaldo and his teammates, and they had to settle for a draw. The neutrals’ darlings Iceland were overjoyed by their debut performance at a major tournament, something that rubbed Ronaldo the wrong way. His infamous “small mentality” post-match comments overshadowed everything else they did on the pitch and marked a very negative start for the team.

If Portugal thought their first match was frustrating, things only got worse for them in the next one against Austria. Their lack of a killer touch came up under intense scrutiny as they wasted chance after chance. Ronaldo’s travails piled up as he missed a penalty and was disallowed a goal as offside. At the end of the 90 minutes, Portugal were left ruing all their missed opportunities with the match finishing 0-0. They were trailing third in a group that they should have easily trampled all over. The two draws left them in a virtual must-win situation for their last match against table toppers Hungary.

And then came the drama! An early exit beckoned three times and on each occasion Ronaldo conjured up something to keep his team alive. With an assist and two goals, the Real Madrid superstar finally announced his arrival at the tournament and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. While for the first time in the tournament they stumbled defensively with three goals conceded, they finally managed to fire in front of goal. Thanks to a late winner against Austria by the very team that Ronaldo had so cruelly mocked, Portugal finished third in the group. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it put Ronaldo’s team in the easier half of the draw for the knockout stages. Ronaldo may well consider thanking the Icelandic footballers for this massive piece of luck that paved an easier path to the final.

After a tumultuous group stage, Santos’ men played against the formidable Croatians in the Round-of-16. Croatia had thumped Spain and were in dangerous form, but Santos’ astute tactics took the sting out of their attack. A masterclass in defence, Portugal completely shut out the attacking Croats and a late, late header by Ricardo Quaresma in extra time secured them passage to the quarter-finals.

In Poland’s mean, cagey defence, Portugal looked like they had finally met their match. Robert Lewandowski took less than two minutes to score his first goal of the tournament but wonder kid Renato Sanches came to Portugal’s rescue in his first start at Euro 2016. Ultimately, Rui Patricio and Quaresma proved to be heroes in the penalty shootout, making a superb save and converting the final spot kick respectively. Portugal had made it to the semi-finals without winning a match in 90 minutes.

The semi-final against Wales was Portugal’s best display of football over the last four weeks. Ronaldo scored one goal and inadvertently set up the other to grind out a 2-0 win and march into the Euro 2016 final. An organized Protugal side showed flashes of brilliance and will benefit from the boost of momentum and confidence going into the finals.

Football is a cruel and funny sport, and Portugal’s place in the last two only reiterates that. They have been the villain of this tournament, the team that everyone has loved to hate. Their captain Ronaldo has been easy to caricaturise as the “bad, evil man”, from his comments in press to his on and off-field tantrums. But for the forward and the rest of his teammates, this tournament has been a test of perseverance. It is a chance at redemption, a shot at exorcising the demons of Euro 2004 and an opportunity of realising a long-cherished dream.

Twelve years ago, at home in Lisbon, Ronaldo left the pitch sobbing after a scrappy 1-0 loss to Greece. This time around, the tables have completely turned. They play against France in their backyard and are the underdogs vying to play spoilsport. Their opponents have scored the maximum goals of all the 24 teams that started out (13), but Portugal have allowed the fewest number of shots through the knockouts (eight over 330 minutes of football). They are determined to win at any cost and won’t balk at playing “ugly”. As with life, football too could come full circle on Sunday if Portugal manage to “pull a Greece” on France. The Portuguese are here to spoil the Parisien party and are relishing every moment of it.