Hosts France battle Portugal for Euro 2016 glory

And so it has come down to hosts France and Portugal to fight for who becomes the Champions of Europe.

Germany, Italy and other favourites will watch on TV or live at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. French Coach Didier Deschamps had told the media from the start of the tournament that he never tolerated second best as a player and he still has the same winning philosophy as a coach.

To him its win or bust. They survived the scourge of their bogey team Germany in the semi-final and are going all out for this.

France will be inspired by their amazing Michel Platini-led 3-2 victory at the Euro 1984 Cup, where they overcame a tough Portugal in extra time after coming back from two goals down.

The impressive mix of world-class young stars and experienced veterans seems to have worked so far. The team’s explosive attacking options have succeeded so far, but France must beware of fragility at the back, especially at set pieces, which is the specialty of Cristiano Ronaldo.

And talking of Ronaldo, France will have to be wary of him, as he will give his all for his first-ever international laurel. Portugal will rely on him as well as the amazing talents in midfield. The old guards too will be ruthless.

The weakness will be the little firepower beyond Ronaldo and in a big final like this you need more than one magical player. Renato Sanches might come to the party and complement Ronaldo; he surely has shown he is a box-to-box titan in spite of his age.

Portugal should be relaxed going in having fulfilled the media expectation of at least a quarter-final berth, although Selecao boss Fernando Santos kept insisting they would go all the way.

Interestingly, Portugal have never beaten France in competitive action, a run dating back to 1975. France won the 1984 Euro championship and FIFA World Cup 1998 at home.

Portugal are boosted by Pepe’s return to fitness, who missed the semi-final with a thigh injury but trained on Saturday and “didn’t express any complaints”, according to Fernando Santos. But they still won’t forget that they are on a losing run of 10 games against France.

William Carvalho is expected to replace Danilo in central midfield.

France should be unchanged, despite French media speculation about N’Golo Kanté being brought in to stiffen the midfield and whether Dimitri Payet should start after a quiet game in the semis.

QUOTES

Fernando Santos, Portugal
“I’ve said before that our objective was to play in the final and win it. We have great belief because we want to make the Portuguese people happy. We want to give them something to celebrate.”

Didier Deschamps, France
“We have this opportunity to become European champions. Whether you’re 18, 20 or much older, there’s a chance to win a title and we need to seize it without thinking about what might happen in the future.

“The players know they’re privileged to be playing the UEFA EURO 2016 final at home in Paris.”

EURO FINAL FACTS

• The winners have kept a clean sheet in the last three EURO finals.

• The last EURO final to go into extra time was the 2000 edition, when France beat Italy 2-1 thanks to David Trezeguet’s golden goal.
• Only one EURO final has gone as far as penalties — the 1976 edition — when Czechoslovakia held West Germany 2-2 and won 5-3 in the penalty shootout.

• This is the fifth international team or club final to be played at the Stade de France. The previous four were:

Brazil 0-3 France, 1998 FIFA World Cup
Real Madrid CF 3-0 Valencia CF, 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League
Cameroon 0-1 France (gg), 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
FC Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal FC, 2005/06 UEFA Champions League

Portugal
• Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win against Wales was their first victory inside 90 minutes at this tournament. Their previous six finals matches ended in draws after 90 minutes, five at this competition, plus a 0-0 stalemate with Spain – preceding a shootout defeat – in the UEFA EURO 2012 semi-final.

• In their only previous major final, Portugal lost 1-0 to Greece in the UEFA EURO 2004 decider – a defeat made all the more agonising by their status as tournament hosts.

• This is Portugal’s third game at the Stade de France; they previously lost 4-0 (April 2001) and 2-1 (October 2014) to Les Bleus at the home of the French national team. João Mário made his Portugal debut in that latter game.

France
• Group A winners France are unbeaten in 10 games (W9 D1), their 0-0 draw against Switzerland in the group stage having ended a six-match winning streak dating back to a 2-0 friendly loss to England on November 17, 2015.

• France are playing in their fifth EURO or World Cup final; they won the first three (2-0 v Spain, UEFA EURO 1984; 3-0 v Brazil, 1998 World Cup; 2-1 v Italy UEFA EURO 2000) before losing the most recent on penalties following a 1-1 draw against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final.

• France’s 5-2 quarter-final success against Iceland was their 80th game at the Stade de France; their record in those matches is W50 D20 L10.

• Their record in major final tournament games at the venue is W5 D1, that lone draw a 0-0 against Italy at the 1998 World Cup – a tie Les Bleus won on penalties.

• The last-16 win against the Republic of Ireland at Stade de Lyon was France’s first EURO knockout success since lifting the trophy in 2000.

• France (1984) are one of three nations to have won a EURO as hosts, along with Spain (1964) and Italy (1968).