Euro 2016 final: Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal out to make Greece lightning strike twice

Cristiano Ronaldo may not see it this way, but the big question for Portugal going into Sunday’s Euro 2016 final is whether they can emulate Greece. Can they do to France in their national stadium what was done to them in Lisbon at Euro 2004? Can they turn the weight of expectation against their fancied hosts? Can they overcome fluid football with their own conservative, compact approach?

Of course the parallels are not perfect. In Ronaldo Portugal have unquestionably the greatest European player of his generation and one of the very best of all time. That Greece team had no-one in the same league as Nani or Ricardo Quaresma, never mind Ronaldo. They did not have a Renato Sanches or even a Joao Moutinho. All they had was hard work, discipline and a plan.

But that night at the Estadio da Luz 12 years ago remains a constant sore on Portuguese football history, a night that they are desperate to avenge, which they can only do by playing the role of their nemesis from that night.

It remains a surprise that the Portugal team from the first half of the last decade never won a major trophy. As well as a young Ronaldo they had established quality players in Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Deco. They certainly should have won Euro 2004, after eliminating England on penalties in the last eight, before running into a Greece team they had no response to in the final. “That was 12 years ago and I was 18 years old [he was actually 19], it was my first final,” Ronaldo said. “This is different.”

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Two years later Portugal had a Ronaldo finding his stride at Manchester United, knocked out England again in the quarter-finals, but were beaten by France in the semi-finals.

This Portugal team can go beyond that old one and finally win their first major trophy. But what has been so striking about Fernando Santos’ side is how different their approach is from the expansive Portuguese entertainers of the last decade.

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Portugal’s current most talented creative midfielder, Moutinho, has been sidelined and is now just used as a substitute. Quaresma, who found form again this season at Besiktas, is only used as an impact substitute. Santos’ preferred system is a very controlled and cautious 4-4-2, with Ronaldo and Nani up front and very little space in between the lines.

That was the football that produced their 1-0 win over Croatia in the last-16, a game which broke European Championship records with not a single shot on target for the first 115 minutes. But Portugal scored their one opening on the break and went through. In their next two games Portugal played two other similarly cautious organised sides: they drew 1-1 with Poland before beating them on penalties, then picked Wales off to win the semi-final 2-0. It was Portugal’s first 90-minute win of the tournament, at the sixth attempt.

It is the most surprising run to a European final since Greece 12 years ago. The tactical mastermind Santos is a Portugese coach steeped in conservative Greek football culture. He replaced Otto Rehhagel in charge of the Greek national team in 2010, after spells coaching Panathinaikos, AEK Athens and PAOK.

That night Ronaldo and his senior team-mates strolled into the final buoyed by their superior talent, the support of the crowd, the tag of favourites and the expectation of the whole continent. But they were tripped up, and Ronaldo was reduced to tears. Tomorrow night a much older Ronaldo, and his younger team-mates, will be in the opposite position. And they will try inflict the same pain upon France.