Are Portugal Really the European Championships' Worst-Ever Finalists?

It became apparent rather early that Euro 2016 was prime for an outsider to make a charge. It took until the latter rounds for any side to impose themselves on the competition, with the newly expanded format giving the tournament a distinctly open field. Bets were taken and tips made on which of the 24 teams in France this summer would emerge from the pack to go the distance.

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Much of the group stage was spent searching the field looking for the next Greece, as has become the conventional term for a side pulling off a shock in international football. Portugal might not have been the most obvious of picks back then after finishing third in their group and only scraping through to the round of 16. But Fernando Santos’ men have taken on the mantle, reaching Sunday’s final.

Of course, Portugal are hardly rank outsiders considering their pedigree at major tournaments over the past two decades. They have made the semi-finals of three of the last four European Championships, consistently overachieving at major tournaments. They’re not quite the Greece so many were looking for, but their appearance at the Stade de France on Sunday has come as something of a surprise.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. benefited from landing in the weaker side of the tournament’s draw for the knockout rounds, but they have seen off quality sides in making it all the way to the showpiece event.

Croatia were tipped by many as contenders to win the whole thing after beating reigning European champions Spain and topping their group. Yet they couldn’t find a way past Portugal.

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Poland were also widely identified as potential latter round material, with Robert Lewandowski giving his side the lead within three minutes of their quarter-final clash with Santos’ men. But Portugal had the presence of mind to gather themselves, equalise soon after and eventually find a way into the semi-finals on penalties.

It’s true that Ronaldo and his side have hardly set Euro 2016 alight, only winning one of their six matches in regulation time. But are they truly the worst team to have ever made the final of the European Championships, as some have claimed? Is Portugal’s quality being underplayed as they prepare to face France in Saint Denis?

They might not have a winning mentality, but they have the kind of mentality that has got them through three tricky knockout rounds. Portugal might have won just one match out of six in France this summer, but they have yet to suffer defeat. In knockout football, being hard to beat is often more valuable than being able to win games. 

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Santos deserves credit for the way he has set up his team at the tournament. He has focused on imposing defensive stability on his players, with the whirlwind 3-3 draw against Hungary in the group stage the only time Portugal have lost their grip of any one contest. Besides that one exception, the finalists have played with composure and self-assurance.

But while Santos’ side have been a distinctly defensive, conservative outfit for much of the competition, their progress is largely down to the performances of their two best attackers—Ronaldo and Nani. If Portugal go all the way on Sunday, those two will deserve a large share of the acclaim.

By fielding two banks of four in the defence and midfield, Santos has given Ronaldo and Nani the freedom needed to play their best football. The latter in particular has rediscovered the kind of form that so many believed to be a thing of the past, with the former Manchester United winger enjoying something of a renaissance at these championships. 

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Naturally, Ronaldo remains Portugal’s most potent threat, finding the net three times over six appearances. His goal against Wales provided one of the highlights of the tournament so far, powering a header past Wayne Hennessey after hanging like a hummingbird to meet the cross into the box. It was an astonishing piece of physicality that on first look appeared to be some sort of optical illusion.

And that is perhaps Portugal’s greatest strength—individual brilliance. For all that Santos deserves credit for organising his side and drilling his defensive line, it’s the sheer match-winning quality of Ronaldo, and to a certain extent Nani, that makes them so dangerous. 

Nearly two years ago, Portugal played, and lost, a friendly match to France at the Stade de France. After the game, Santos spoke to his players in the dressing room, setting down the groundwork for what has followed at these European Championships. Portugal’s trajectory can be traced back to that moment.

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"I called my players together in the bowels of the Stade de France and told them that our goal was to be right back here two years later for the final of Euro 2016," Santos explained after the semi-final win over Wales on Wednesday evening, as per Gabriele Marcotti of ESPN. "And now we have done it. Now we have a final to play. And I don't just want to play it. I want to win it.”

Evidently, ambition has never been an issue for Portugal, especially with Ronaldo wearing the captain’s armband. The country has consistently punched above its weight on the international scene, but despite their undoubted pedigree at this level, this team’s surge to the final was unexpected.

Portugal’s golden generation failed to pick up any silverware, with defeat in the 2004 European Championships the closest the country has ever come to claiming a major honour. There is now a new generation of Portuguese talent coming through—the likes of which William Carvalho and Renato Sanches are counted a part of—but Euro 2016 was deemed too early to see the best of that. 

This was billed as a transitional stint in Portuguese football, and yet they will take to the field at the Stade de France for Sunday’s final. They deserve their place there. Santos’ side certainly won’t go down in the grand catalogue of European football’s great international teams, but France should be wary of a side with such pedigree, regardless of how they got there.