Six and out. Cristiano RonaldoThe sixth and final European Championship has come to an end Portugal he paid for a powerlessness that resulted from granting his captain a privileged status. They went out on penalties, John Felix rolling his penalty against the foot of the post while everyone was scoring, but after a second consecutive stalemate, after 364 minutes without scoring.
If it’s an equally damning statistic that doesn’t France player has scored for them in open play in this tournament, five have scored in a penalty shootout. Diogo Costa had saved a trio of Slovenian penalties in the round of 16, but Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola scored, allowing Theo Hernandez to score a super-powered semi-final against Spain.
The ends can justify the means and for Didier Deschamps, monotony brought a fourth semi-final in the last five major tournaments. In the process, France conquered a demon or two. Eliminated from Euro 2020 on penalties, after losing the 2022 World Cup final on penalties, France avoided an unwanted hat-trick. They also took revenge for their Euro 2016 final defeat to Portugal.
But one of the most anticipated games of the tournament was also among the most boring. Two teams with so much talent showed little ambition. France grew frustrated with Deschamps’ caution, Portugal with their increasingly strange refusal to play without Ronaldo, the man they refuse to dismiss or replace. With the players from each team, it could have been a classic, but the highlight of the first hour was referee Michael Oliver running so fast that the yellow card fell out of his pocket. The second hour was better, but not epic; in fact, Dembele, who only entered the field in the 67th minute, was named man of the match.
The past and future of Real Madrid’s Galacticos have yet to score in open play in this tournament. Ronaldo deflected a shot in stoppage time after some quick footwork from Francisco Conceição, but neither came close to scoring in the 120th minute. Mbappe did not complete them; Ronaldo did just that, scoring Portugal’s first penalty.
And for a long time it seemed obvious that they would be needed. It had something of the essence of football tournaments: the prolonged nature of qualifiers, the feeling that a mistake could be fatal, the proportional choice of caution. There seemed to be a shared sense of the pursuit of glory, that success involves suffering. There seemed to be something predictable about a goalless draw. There was an old-fashioned feel with players camped behind the ball with little pressure. Deschamps chose a trio of midfielders. Somewhere, José Mourinho was probably nodding his head in approval.
It was, as expected, a war of attrition, but there is a battle-like quality to this French team. The decisive performances came from defensively minded people: Pepe, Portugal’s oldest man of war, celebrating after recovering to dispossess the much younger Marcus Thuram; N’Golo Kante, eating dirt like he was a decade younger; Eduardo Camavinga, another of the French trio who played 90 minutes; Mike Maignan, with two beautiful blocks in just a few minutes. The attackers offered very little: Mbappe showed glimpses of pace and Rafael Leão at least tormented Kounde, although without much final product, partly due to the lack of movement in the middle. But with Antoine Griezmann, at least restored to his preferred number 10 role, ineffective, France lacked creativity. With 10 men and a static deity, Portugal didn’t really have a center forward.
For France, the result offers validation. Portugal, however, may go around wondering what could have happened if it had been more ambitious. Conceição offered some liveliness in her cameo. Bruno Fernandes was strangely withdrawn. Given Roberto Martinez’s attacking spirit, they hardly felt like a Martinez team. It was as if Fernando Santos was still in charge.
Not that France was much more adventurous. The only shot on goal in the first half was by Hernandez, which Costa saved; there were only four off target, none of the player with the most goals in the European Championship and the one who could end up scoring the most in the World Cup.
After a sterile hour, belated signs of life emerged. Previously silenced, Portugal suddenly created two good opportunities. The initial incision came from João Cancelo, with a pass that split the defense for Fernandes to shoot that Maignan saved. Then, Leão chose Vitinha, whose first shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Remarkably, none of the chances involved Ronaldo.
France responded with two of their own. When Randal Kolo Muani slipped behind the Portugal defense, Ruben Dias did an excellent job of deflecting his shot wide. An unmarked Camavinga shot wide. However, this represented the most eventual spell. Nuno Mendes could have won in the 120th minute, but penalties seemed destined. And for Portugal, Felix’s failure meant the tournament ended with an extremely talented group feeling like underperformers.
