After all, Fernando Santos’ men only secured their first victory in 90 minutes at the tournament in the semi-finals against a Wales team that was hampered by suspensions and that seemed to have run out of steam and ideas in the absence of Aaron Ramsey in particular.
The final is unlikely to rival the game between France and Germany for quality but it should be an intriguing affair nonetheless. Portugal have made it this far due to an impressive defensive resilience that ensures their matches never get away from them, but they are underdogs. They have lost their last 10 matches against France, including both meetings in the five-team qualifying group from which Portugal emerged.
If Portugal are looking for redemption, it’s not over France but their desire to put right the wrongs of their own past, most specifically the final of Euro 2004. As the host nation of the tournament 12 years ago, they were expected to beat Greece in the final and win their first major competition.
Greece had won just two of their five matches in 90 minutes en route to the final and Phil Scolari’s team were tipped for glory. Cristiano Ronaldo was the emerging star at the time — with Renato Sanches having taken that role at this tournament — with Luís Figo, Rui Costa and Deco the established stars who were expected to have too much for Greece. But Portugal fell to a shock defeat, just as they had done in the opening game of the tournament.
The roles are reversed this time around, with Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann making hosts France the team packed with talent, but Portugal will be confident that they can frustrate France in the way Greece frustrated them.
Despite being forced to extra-time against both Croatia and Poland, Portugal have faced just eight shots in the knockout stages in 330 minutes of action — and they have conceded just once. That said, France have hit their stride since Griezmann was moved into a central position in the second half of their last-16 comeback win over Ireland.
He has made France look like a completely different team going forwards. The Atlético Madrid forward took his tally for the tournament to six in the semi-final — becoming only the second ever player after Michel Platini (nine) to score more than five goals in a European Championship – and playing closer to Olivier Giroud has tapped into one of the Arsenal striker’s undoubted strengths.
Giroud holds up play and brings others into the action with intricate flicks and touches in the final third, which makes him ideal for Griezmann. He had just two shots on target from a wide berth in the group stages compared to 10 in a more central position in the knockouts, so Portugal will have to work hard to keep him quiet.
The returning William Carvalho will be one of those tasked with limiting his influence, and Santos may even consider a change of formation to restrict the space between the lines, utilising Danilo Pereira as a second ball winner.
A midfield match-up of Paul Pogba and Renato Sanches — who possesses many of the qualities that have ensured the Juventus midfielder’s success, most notably his physical strength in possession and ability to drive forward with the ball — is a mouth-watering prospect.
Portugal cannot afford to sit deep and defend all game, and will need Cristiano Ronaldo to be in the limelight, where he usually is and always likes to be.