Eder, Ronaldo and the moths

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After a minute of a radio orgasm worthy of the great South American voices – between a “Goooooolo” in apnea or “Goal, goal, goal” more jerky -, Alexandre Afonso mobilizes his memories of French lessons to drop these words in French at the microphone of Antena 1: “I love you Portugal! It’s for me, it’s for you, it’s for us, it’s for you Portugal ”.

Like its public radio, an entire country capsizes and loses its sanity at 109^e minute of this final in Saint-Denis, July 10, 2016. If the words jostle in the language of Molière, it is also a question of warding off fate and expelling the accumulated frustration.

Three times, France got in the way of the Portuguese to a final. First there was this goal of Michel Platini at the end of the Marseille night in 1984, the hand of the discolored Abel Xavier in 2000 or this penalty skillfully obtained by Thierry Henry six years later in the World Cup.

But in about ten minutes, the Selection will be European champion. Eternal contender rejected, she will finally lift her first international trophy and her hero is called Ederzito Antonio Macedo Lopes, or just Eder, as indicated by the flocking on his jersey 9.

Eder has never been a Golden Ball, nor a true holder in the national team where his goal ratio (five in 35 caps) brings him closer to a defensive midfielder than a center forward. At times, the native of Guinea-Bissau even embarrassed his adopted country a little. Voluntary but technically frustrating, Eder (then on loan at Lille) is a striker “Which weighs on the defenses”, a polite way of saying that he does his best with his qualities and his eighty-eight meter.

“I cried a lot today”

But sometimes the football god lays his finger on an unexpected savior. This role, Cristiano Ronaldo has yet in the skin since a final lost in 2004 in Lisbon against Greece. He vowed to dry his post-teenage tears of the time. But his eyes are even wetter trying to kiss Eder in the midst of his teammates, twelve years later. Carried by adrenaline, he forgets his bruised knee and the ice pack on it. Like an bis coach, he goes back and forth along the sidelines, hops while replacing his teammates.

“My face is shining, it’s normal I cried a lot today”, he admits later at a press conference with a broad smile. First, there were sobs of rage after a knee-to-knee shock with Dimitri Payet at the very start of the match. Ronaldo grits his teeth for a few minutes then crouches in the middle of the lawn and lets go of the tear valves before giving up. Around him, moths flutter and accompany his misfortune. The day before, the rehearsal of the opening ceremony with its light shows attracted this cloud of lepidoptera.

Portugal must win this final without its captain and striker, the one who has worn as much as he has vampirized his selection for almost a decade. In the first round, CR7 missed everything against Austria (0-0 and a missed penalty) before avoiding an early return home with a brace against the Hungarians (3-3). With three draws, Portugal went through the back door to qualify and in the process thank Michel Platini (UEFA president but noticeable absent), whose idea of ​​a Euro at 24 saved his skin as a best third.

Apart from six short minutes against Iceland at the very start of Euro, Eder followed the rest of the course from the bench and with his tracksuit top. For months, coach Fernando Santos has made an appointment on July 10. Portugal has already had its Selecçao most beautiful and romantic in the past, but this devout Catholic has faith in the fate of a group on mission.

Gignac and Guerreiro, these almost heroes of the evening

As they know (and love) to suffer, the Portuguese of 2016 leave the ball to the timorous Blues and bow their backs. In his cages, Rui Patricio, the guardian adept at transcendent meditation, achieves the match of a lifetime. And when he’s beaten, his pole plays the substitute on a strike from André-Pierre Gignac in overtime.

After the meeting, Santos will reconsider his choice to throw Eder at the 79^e. Intuition? Message from above? No, just a tactical choice. “We needed a player at that time who plays in front to bring up the team block”, details the one who was an engineer in his first life.

Fate almost chose another. On the action before the goal, Portugal gets a free kick from 25 meters. Behind the ball, a child from 93. But by family atavism, Raphaël Guerreiro du Blanc-Mesnil preferred Portugal. His left strike flies over the wall, bounces off the crossbar of Hugo Lloris who is slightly injured when falling.

Thirty seconds later, it lacks a few centimeters to the goalkeeper of the Blues, poorly recovered perhaps, to deflect Eder’s shot with the tip of his gloves. It was not yet the time for Didier Deschamps’ France team. This July 10, 2016, it was good “For you Portugal”.

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