A buoyant Cristiano Ronaldo floated praise on his Portugal teammates after they managed a 1-0 win over hosts France on Sunday to seal the Henri Delaunay Trophy as winners of EURO 2016.
Ronaldo lasted less than a half hour after aDimitri Payet tackle hobbled the Portugal captain and Real Madrid star.
But strong defense from Pepe, Jose Fonte and Rui Patricio pushed the match to extra time, where Eder scored in the 109th minute to give the game its final scoreline.
Ronaldo was pleased. From the BBC:
“I am very happy. I have been looking for this for a long time, since 2004. I asked God for another chance at this because we deserved it. Today I was unfortunate, I was injured but I always believed that these players, together with the strategy, would be strong enough to beat France.
“This is one of the happiest moments in my career, I always said I’d like to win something with Portugal.
“For me this is an amazing unique moment for all Portuguese.”
Ronaldo was in tears as he was stretchered off the field, and you wouldn’t have found too many wagering that Portugal would’ve pulled off the win even with a healthy CR7. But a remarkable team win — in a fairly boring game, it must be said — has made Portugal the champions of Europe.
