The tears and cheers of Euro champs Portugal
By Nigel Gould
Portugal have been crowned EURO 2016 champions.
They beat France 1-0 last night after Eder’s superb extra-time strike.
Early in the game, Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo was carried off in tears after injuring his knee in a clash with Dimitri Payet.
But there were tears of joy after his side picked up the first major title in their history.
He celebrated wildly and limped up the Stade de France steps to lift the trophy - Portugal first ever title.
Ronaldo sustained the apparent knee injury in a robust challenge with Dimitri Payet and Patrice Evra.
The former Manchester United forward, who has won virtually every club and individual honour available to him, tried to hobble on following treatment, but his participation ended abruptly when he signalled to the bench and he was taken off.
Ricardo Quaresma replaced him and Portugal might have feared their chance had gone with the loss of talisman Ronaldo, who suffered defeat in the Euro 2004 final on home soil, when Greece won in Lisbon.
In the semi-final against Wales, he equalled Michel Platini's European Championship goalscoring record with nine.
Picture by: Mike Egerton / EMPICS Sport