Eder emerges as Portugal’s unlikely hero
Streaky forward key contributor to Euro win
Portugal was triumphant at Euro 2016, but upstarts Wales and Iceland supplied the best memories from the summer tournament in France.
Not many experts chose Fernando Santos’ team as likely title winner at the start while punters would hardly have rushed to put money on his side when superstar Cristiano Ronaldo limped off in tears after 25 minutes of the final against the host.
And had anyone asked fans of Swansea City whether Eder, who failed to score in 15 games for Wales’ English Premier League club before being farmed out to Lil le, was a good bet to grab the winner they might have countered by saying there was more chance of Brexit followed by Donald Trump being elected president of the United States.
But if 2016 taught us anything it is that unlikely characters can shape major events, on and off the soccer pitch.
Portugal’s triumph came despite only producing one shot on target in 90 minutes plus two more in extra time — an underwhelming end to a largely forgettable tournament in which 22 of the 55 matches were scoreless at halftime.
Similarities were drawn between Portugal and the Greece team that chugged to victory 12 years earlier, but it was Wales and Iceland, which reached the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively, that really captured the imagination of the Euro 2016 fans.
Iceland’s followers entertained everyone with their unique ‘Viking thunder clap’ celebration.
It was not all good news among the crowds, however, with violence marring the leadup to Russia’s game with England and several other unsavory outbursts involving other countries.
England manager Roy Hodgson and Belgium coach Marc Wilmots paid with their jobs for failing to get the most out of their talented squads.
Italy’s Antonio Conte used Euro 2016 as a springboard, quickly purging the disappointment of his team’s quarterfinal loss to Germany to finish the year strong at the head of EPL leader Chelsea.
Portugal’s title success was particularly harsh on the player of the tournament, France forward Antoine Griezmann who produced several mesmerizing performances and finished as top scorer with six goals in seven games.
Less than two months earlier the same striker lost out in the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid, which went down on penalties to city rival Real, Ronaldo this time taking center stage to score the decisive penalty.
Third honor
Ronaldo went on to bag a third honor in 2016, beating Barcelona rival Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or for a fourth time.
Other winners in 2016 included Leicester City, which over- came odds of 5,000-1 to win its first top-tier title in England while Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Juventus were more predictable champions in Europe’s other top leagues.
Juve midfielder Paul Pogba left the club at the end of the season to rejoin former team Manchester United for a world-record fee of $111.89 million.
United acquired a new manager in Jose Mourinho while Pep Guardiola took up residence at Manchester City as English soccer continued to draw the game’s top coaching talent.
It also attracted many foreign investors with Chinese businessmen snapping up several clubs as a country not known for its soccer tradition established a major foothold in an increasingly globalized game.
At home the Chinese Super League emerged as a likely destination for top soccer players with around $225 million spent on the likes of Graziano Pelle and Hulk.
Off the field, Gianni Infantino was elected president of soccer’s governing body FIFA in place of the disgraced Sepp Blatter.
Infantino promised to “bring football back to FIFA” and also said he wanted to increase the number of teams that take part in the World Cup finals from 32 to 48.