The moths were more enthusiastic to play football than footballers in Euro final
by Arda Alan Işık
ISTANBULJul 12, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Arda Alan Işık
Jul 12, 2016 12:00 am
After the Champions League final this year, I thought there could never be a worse game than that, until some spiritual powers brought France and Portugal to the Euro 2016 final. None of us expected this final and Portugal would have been eliminated in the last 16 if they had been on the other side of the side of the knockout draw. Italy, Spain and Germany were obviously better teams than Fernando Santos's moderate counter-attacking squad plus Cristiano Ronaldo. The question is, how come France, who won out of the difficult side of the draw, could not find a decent opportunity against a Ronaldo-less Portugal until Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the crossbar in added time.First of all, both teams had the same dull and insufficient strategy - classic counter-attacking. The difference was that Portugal always had at least six men in defense, while France sometimes left four men behind. Nevertheless, essentially both teams were waiting for the other to make a mistake or a shining moment in the infinite darkness. Neither of the coaches, Santos and Didier Deschamps, dared to position their team in the other team's half to look for opportunities or keep the pressure on. After Cristiano Ronaldo was injured, only a miracle like Eder's shot could win the trophy.
But, what happened to France, a team who scored five goals against Iceland, a team Portugal could not even beat? Why could Antoine Griezmann not find an opportunity? Why was Paul Pogba not present in the attacking areas of the field? Why was Dimitri Payet lost among Portugal's defense? These questions might be easy to answer for those who declared France as champions before the game, or maybe they are not. The inability to see the casualness behind France's march towards the final brought this result to the French national team. The reason why Deschamps' team was so ineffective against Portugal can be traced back to the first game of the tournament. Romania, who played a strict defensive game that was inspired by Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone, managed to prevent the talented French from creating opportunities and Deschamps was only saved by Dimitri Payet's late winner. Even then, it was clear that France did not have an effective strategy against defensive teams who are willing to give space and time to their opponent. Of course, in some cases like the Iceland game, individual talents of the French team solved the problem.
Nonetheless, neither Iceland nor Romania had Cristiano Ronaldo or Luis Nani to threaten the French defense. The danger posed by the Portuguese attack made Deschamps more reluctant to push the game into chaos as he did against Germany. Even after Ronaldo left the field injured, France were still on alert for Portuguese counter-attacks and they did not move the defense 10 meters forward, which would have pressed the Portuguese into their penalty box. Deschamps and his team paid the price for being passive and reactive by losing the trophy to a second-class team that had Ricardo Quaresma in their attack.
However, the two crucial factors that brought Portugal to the final were Cristiano Ronaldo's performances and their defensive discipline. Fernando Santos has never been a productive coach when it comes to attack, but he knows how to defend his goal. Still, they should be thankful that fate allowed them to avoid Italy, Germany and Spain while France were the last man alive. But for a tournament like this, where almost every team had extreme defensive priorities, the Portuguese are worthy champions. I am glad that the Copa America was there to rescue me when the Euro's bored me to hell, but hey, at least we had moths landing on Ronaldo's face.
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