So after 4 weeks of long gruelling matches in France we are left with two teams fighting it out for the European title! Portugal led by Ronaldo and France led by Hugo Lloris. France being the hosts will have alot of expectation on their shoulders but they also have the home crowd cheering them on which could be a huge factor! Portugal come into this final with many people wondering how, with Ronaldo scoring but still not being in his clinical form we are used to seeing him in at Real Madrid, they have only won one game inside the 90 minute time frame but still they haven't been beaten either right? This game will probably as always in finals come down to who takes there chances, with France you have the inform Greizmann who really has turned his form around in this competition after the poor first game in which he was subbed at half time along with Pogba. He has been scoring for fun and has looked very lethal, Pogba and Payet behind him supplying is also very huge for France as those two players can change the game and have done in this tournament. There has been a surprise in the back 4 with France, Evra and Sagna are old and we knew they would not be at the best and they have offered little going forward, but with Koscielny and Umtiti they have really done well together and have been very solid in front of Lloris. Lloris himself you can always count on, a world class keeper who showed it with a couple of great saves, one in the last minute vs Germany springs to mind. Portugal, well they have been interesting to say the least, Ronaldo and Nani leading the line they have clutched a few games between them, when those two click just like in the Yanited days they are fabulous to watch together. The back 4 of Portugal is a bit questionable, they have fairly rookie fullbacks but they have potential though and i have been impressed by Guerreiro though and others must have too as he recently signed for Dortmund. Add in Fonte and Pepe compliment eachother really well at the back they give good protection to Patricio in goal. The midfield is the big conundrum for me, they have such fabulous players to choose from, a gulf of spoils in the whole midfield positions, from youth to experience but the coach for me, never seems to get it right. Carvalho has always been dubbed the next great thing, add in Andre Gomes the Valencia magician and round it off with the likes of Renato Sanches and you have huge potential. Add in the experienced Moutinho too and you wonder how they have not fed Ronaldo and Nani an abundance of goals. However maybe it will click in the final? The game itself is going to be the standard final, extremely close very negative but thats what you expect in the final with two teams who do not want to lose! It will come down to whether Ronaldo will take his chances he will get and then for France it will be whether they can supply Greizmann and co if Pogba and Payet get the space to do so. So, lets find out!
Referee - Mark Clattenburg
Prediction Portugal 2-1 France CSS: FO-nTTaX Awesomeness: Panda Pictures: Sneirac
I've come to realize that I don't want host teams to win tournaments. Nothing against france in particular, but I feel that a home team winning always carries some sort of asterisk. I mean, every host team always overperforms, and if this tournament was held in italy/germany/portugal instead, I think either team would be winning. Portugal winning this would be a bigger achievement (despite their mediocre groupstage) than France winning.
And now I've just realized I'm basically arguing in favor of the 2020 host mode. Argh.
anyways always fun to have Euro cup with our fellow european brothers.. i just hope we could keep the rivalries and hate in sports and embrace our nations as brothers!
France are favorites. Portugal will very likely play defense for most of the game, trying to grab a goal from a counter or a moment of Ronaldo brilliance. We're likely to experience a boring game, unless one of the teams scores early.
Even assuming France will win, I'm very excited to see how the backbone of the team for the next 8 years - William Carvalho, Renato Sanches, André Gomes, Raphael Guerreiro and Cedric Soares - perform in the first big final of their careers. This tournament marks a transition stage in the Portuguese team, with Moutinho, Carvalho, Pepe, Fonte, Nani, Quaresma, Bruno Alves, Eliseu and Vieirinha in the twilights of their careers, most unlikely to be called again for a tournament. The generation coming, however, has shown a lot more talent at their age than the one leaving overall (even taking into account the one leaving had Ronaldo...), with Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, André Silva and Diogo Jota already showing brilliance at a very young age. Meanwhile, the U17s just won the Euro this year. Expect to see us competing into the later stages of tournaments in the decade to come.
It might be early to say but with what Renato Sanches has shown at his age, and taking into account his character and work ethic, he might be the true heir to Ronaldo's leadership role in the team.
EPT
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