Didier Deschamps need a solitary trophy to finish a single grand slam. He won the World Cup and European Championship as a player, and the World Cup as a coach. Euro 2024 could allow him to complete the set; he would have done it already if it wasn’t Portugal and for a team that may have Deschamps overcome.
In the eight years since Euro 2016, when Portugal won its only major trophy, against France in France, Deschamps’ style became more evident: there is no need to stand out in a group stage or make statements about the quality of football. Games can be won by moments, games without conceding goals, set pieces, improbable numbers.
France were arguably the best team at Euro 2016. Portugal won nothing in the group stage, then progressed through a 117th-minute decision, a penalty shootout and a victory over a Wales team that overcame itself to reach the semi-finals. They beat France 1-0 with another goal in extra time: from Eder, a striker whose career at Swansea City produced no goals and only five times for Portugal.
So, after an underwhelming start to their Germany bid, this sets the stage for another fightback – they drew 2-2 in the Euro 2020 group stage – with renewed rivalries in Hamburg on Friday night.
There are many survivors from 2016 – for Portugal, the man of the match, Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldowho left injured and became an assistant coach in the technical area, Deschamps, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud for France.
But there may be another mission of revenge, albeit for a manager whose words are too saccharine to suggest such a thing. When France won the 2018 semi-final in Russia, allowing Deschamps to emulate Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as captain and coach, it was against Roberto MartinezBelgium: 1-0, with a goal from a set piece by Samuel Umtiti, one of the four he scored for France. Belgium played the best football. France won. Thibaut Courtois accused them of playing “anti-football”. Eden Hazard added: “I would rather lose with this Belgium than win with this France.”
Deschamps, it is safe to say, would not share that opinion. His reputation for dullness may be exaggerated: France’s 4-3 victory over Argentina in 2018, for example, was a classic. But some of their most eventful games have resulted in a loss of control: 3-3 against Switzerland at Euro 2020 or the 2022 World Cup final with Argentina. There’s a sense that Deschampsball involves ending a game and waiting for a magical moment.
And Euro 2024 had none, as France’s three goals were penalties and two own goals. They only conceded one goal – to Poland – but as a result, they managed to end up on the wrong side of the draw and now face Portugal. And yet, if few doubt that Martinez is at the purist end of the spectrum, they reached the quarter-finals without scoring in 244 minutes. If France copied Portugal, now Portugal seems to be taking inspiration from the French model.
Both coaches can compromise their tactics for one star: France because of Kylian MbappéPortugal’s reluctance to press, Portugal because Martinez’s team risks looking like a project of Ronaldo’s ego rather than a meritocracy. Mbappe scored a penalty in the tournament; Ronaldo missed one, bringing tears to his eyes at half-time in extra time against Slovenia, even if he converted cathartically in the penalty shoot-out that followed.
Their teams seem like cases of potential yet to be realized. There is a simple diagnosis for Portugal; that Ronaldo is stopping them. The French coach’s search for balance continues: after omitting Antoine Griezmann against Poland, he brought him back on the right for the round of 16 victory over post-Martinez Belgium. Now, without the suspended Adrien Rabiot, Deschamps may have to go from three defensive midfielders to just two and give Griezmann a more central role.
For both coaches, the heavyweight quarter-finals can bring back memories: for Deschamps, of eliminating England from the 2022 World Cup, for Martinez, of his best result and greatest tactical triumph in international management, the victory of Belgium in 2018 over Brazil. However, it showed the kind of flexibility – with Romelu Lukaku moved to the right and Kevin de Bruyne playing as a false nine – that is impossible when everything is built around Ronaldo.
Beating Brazil, like Belgium’s Euro 2020 victory over pre-Martinez Portugal, was a sign that the smiling Spaniard is not a failed bluffer. However, he was awarded two very talented groups: the Belgian golden generation, which he led to first place in the FIFA rankings for three and a half years, although Deschamps’ France had the more significant status of world champions, and now Portugal. As Ronaldo and Pepe are twice the age of João Neves, barely a generation has passed, but Portugal, like France, are so full of talent that they look like potential winners; that is, if one can say goodbye to the other and then to Spain or Germany.
Martinez’s veterans could have relevance. Pepe, 41, may not want to be isolated in the race against Mbappé. Ronaldo is in his last attempt to win the European Championship on the field and not on the bench. For Deschamps, however, the prize is possibly even greater. Because, if it weren’t for Portugal, he would already be the man who completed international football.
