The French had been the most dominant team of Euro 16, but somehow on the day of the final they came up short and let the crown slip away from their grasp. This despite the fact that Portugal‘s star player Cristiano Ronaldo had limped off the field early in the first half.
Let’s breakdown the reasons that led to France‘s surprise defeat.
Antoine Griezmann’s off day
France ‘s run up to the final had been all about the impressive Antoine Griezmann, the Atletico Madrid forward had scored 5 goals in the last three games and was in red hot form. But on the big day it seemed the nerves had got the better of him, as he missed two very good chances to put France ahead in either halves.
Even his link up play with Giroud which had been great so far in the tournament, was a letdown as France struggled to break down a resolute Portuguese defense.
Lack of Urgency
With Ronaldo off the pitch, the Portuguese opted for a cautious approach and looked to take the game to penalties if possible. They were happy to sit back and allow France the lion‘s share of possession and were ready to hit them on the counter if opportunity presented.
The French, on the other hand, weren’t ready to go for the kill and pressurize the Portuguese defense, however, they lacked pace in the final third. Even when the game was deep into the second half the French weren’t creating enough chances or pressing high enough to put any kind of pressure on Portuguese defense.
It seemed they were just happy to let the game flow at its own pace.
The Giroud substitution
This perhaps could be the key reason to France‘s defeat. With the game poised delicately, Didier Deschamps substituted Oliver Giroud for Andre Pierre Gignac deep in the second half. It was a like for like substitution, and would have worked in most cases.
But, against a stubborn Portuguese defense what was required was pace in the final third to unlock the defense which neither Giroud nor Gignac could provide with their towering heights. The best option was to introduce Martial in for Giroud which would have allowed France to have pace in the final third and provided them an extra cutting edge.
Lack of Pogba‘s influence
Hailed as the best midfielder in the world by many, it was widely expected that Paul Pogba would run the show for France from the midfield. But, instead it was a below par performance from the Juventus man. With Ronaldo off the field, it presented Pogba with the opportunity to move higher up the pitch and help his teammates in attack.
But, for some strange reason Pogba wasn’t pressing high enough or creating any clear cut chances. Even, Deschamps didn’t encourage his star midfielder to move up the pitch and ramp up the pressure on the Portuguese defense.
With Pogba reluctant to venture forward, the French lacked the magic that could unlock a tight Portuguese defense, looked short on ideas to create clear cut goal scoring opportunities.
The late Martial Substitution
The delayed introduction of Martial into the mix was the final nail in the coffin of France‘s hope of winning the final. For some unknown reasons, Deschamps delayed the introduction of Martial till the very end when all was seemingly lost.
With Gignac and Griezmann unable to break the resolute Portuguese defense and Pogba unable to create any magic France required the dynamism of Martial to force a result in normal time.
It was already evident with the introduction of pacey Kingsley Coman for Dimitri Payet, who was causing a lot of problems for the Portuguese defense and all that was needed now was another pacey forward to enter the field and break the defense down.
But, by delaying his introduction Deschamps condemned his own side to defeat against a resolute Portuguese side.
More than Portugal winning it, it was France losing it. In the key moments, the Portuguese manager Fernando Santos displayed remarkable calmness and tactical shrewdness to ensure Portugal win their first major trophy. Whereas, his opposite number Didier Deschamps made costly tactical errors in key moments that eventually led to his team‘s defeat.
As for Cristiano Ronaldo, his night started in despair but ended with joy and glory. A surprise end to a rather sedate and quite tournament.
