Cristiano Ronaldo can destroy France’s Euro 2016 dream

Not only will France have the host nation crowd behind it at the Stade de France, but Griezmann has been on sparkling form with a tournament-leading six goals – double the tally of Ronaldo, who has toiled and grumbled his way through Portugal’s stodgy campaign. “They deserved to win the match and the Euro”. “On Sunday it will be the first time that Portugal are going to win an important trophy”.

Patricio said: “We have received criticism from Portugal, but we are calm”.

A lot has been made of Portugal’s path to the final as Ronaldo and co. have won only one game in regular time – quite mindboggling.

“It was hard because it was the end”. They also lost to eventual winners England in the 1966 World Cup semi-final.

Portugal limped out of the last World Cup in the group stage, while Euro 2016 qualifying opened with an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Albania and coach Paulo Bento submitted his resignation.

The key decision for Didier Deschamps, the French team manager, seems to be whether to restore N’Golo Kante to the starting lineup and drop Moussa Sissoko.

Ronaldo trudged off the field in tears that night.

“France have a sensational squad and in the final with their home crowd it will be more complicated”.

And on Portugal’s side is the fact that two other long-running hexes have been broken at the Euros.

You can go for the obvious choices like Cristiano Ronaldo or Antoine Griezmann.

They will meet Les Bleus, who overcame Germany 2-0 a day later, at the Stade de France with both history and the odds stacked against them.

His views were followed up by captain Mats Hummels, who after facing the likes of Ukraine and Northern Ireland wasn’t happy.”The level at this European Championship was not what we had hoped for”, Hummels told reporters. According to OddsChecker, Portugal are fancied at 25% by the bookies in regular time. While many commentators and experts are likely to suggest that France may come away victorious, it is a side that will know not to underestimate the Portuguese.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, right, and Ricardo Quaresma smile during a training session in Marcoussis, near Paris, France, Saturday, July 9, 2016.

But Joao Mario added: “Probability doesn’t win matches”.

Buoyed by a match-winning display in the semi-final against Wales, the 31-year-old is relishing the chance to spearhead a first ever Portuguese major tournament win.

The Real Madrid megastar provided an illustration of his gifts with a majestic, soaring header in Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win over Wales and Deschamps is wary of his aerial prowess. “This makes me proud, I always dreamed about winning something for Portugal and I hope it will be this time”.

Since the start of Euro 2016, Griezmann has bounced back from that disappointment, scoring six goals, a feat no player had achieved at one tournament since France great Michel Platini hit a record nine at the 1984 finals.