5 reasons why Portugal left France victorious

Portugal beat France 1-0 in the final credit to an Eder strike to become the 10th nation to win the Euros. Portugal struggled to begin with however a combination of individual brilliance and genius tactics saw them overjoyed at the final whistle. So why did Portugal exceed expectations and end up lifting such a prestige trophy ?

Relive Portugal's journey to the final!

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1) A man with a plan 

Pepe was a key man in defence

Tactically Portugal were superb against France and they played in a similar manner all tournament. Santos, the Portuguese coach, focused heavily on defense and was highly dependent on his flair players Ronaldo, Nani, Quaresma and Sanches to provide the goals for Portugal often on the counter, for example Quaresma's winner vs Croatia. This plan saw Croatia, Wales and France all fail to get past a packed defence, it's no surprise Santos is yet to lose a game in charge of Portugal!

2) Saintly swaps

In their opening game against Iceland Portugal started with a back four of: Guerreiro, Carvalho, Pepe and Vieirinha however the likes of Fonte and Soares came in for the 38 year old veteran Carvalho and injured Vieirinha. The Southampton duo helped improve a shaky Portuguese defense who conceded as many as 3 against mediocre Hungary. In fact Fonte kept 3 clean sheets and conceded just once in the 550 minutes he played despite coming in in the knock out stages against tougher opposition.

3) Maestros in Midfield 

Renato Sanches was highly impressive on the right of midfield

Portugal had a wealth of talent at their disposal in the centre of the pitch, Joao Mario, Willian Carvalho and Gomes were all very impressive and all won MOTM on occasions, not o mention the explosive 18 year old that is Renato Sanches. Carvalho provided a defensive shield which helped their side improve defensively given he didn't start against Iceland. On the other hand Joao Mario and Sanches were capable driving with the ball at their feet, most notably against Poland and Wales. Joao Moutinho didn't get much time in the spotlight however this shouldn't take away from professional performances.

4) That man Ronaldo 

Ronaldo's powerful header lead to a 2-0 win in the Semi Final

In spite of some embarrassing early displays Portugal would almost certainly not have made the final without their captain. Ronaldo's spectacular flick in addition to a 7ft10 header left the opposition in awe and made France anxious about the Real Madrid man's capabilities in the final. In spite of suffering an injury and leaving the pitch devastated Ronaldo took it upon himself to inspire him teammates with undeniable passion in the Final. Whilst critics may say Ronaldo is fortunate to have a Euros winners medal to his name he must be credited for his unbelievable desire.

5) The new Euros set up

With 24 teams introduced it meant that only 8 were to leave in the group stages. As a result 4 of the highest ranked (points) third placed teams could scrape through to the knock out stages. Portugal were one of these fortunate few and were faced with Croatia in the round of 16. After drawing all 3 of their group games Portugal would have usually been heading home thanks to their atrocious form, however the new system offered them a second chance, well you know the rest ...