Despair and joy for Ronaldo

Two hours earlier, there had been very different tears after he had been taken out of the game on a stretcher, just 25 minutes into the final at the Stade de France, his night over and his team left to fight on without their talisman. 

Portugal’s triumph was their first major trophy and will ease the memory of their painful loss to Greece in the Euro 2004 final -- on home turf in Lisbon. A 19-year-old Ronaldo had played on the wing in that defeat and he must have wondered if he would ever get a chance to make amends. “I am very happy. I have been looking for this for a long time, since 2004. I asked God for another chance at this because we deserved it,” he told reporters. 

“Today I was unfortunate, I was injured but I always believed that these players, together with the strategy, would be strong enough to beat France,” the Real Madrid forward added. 

Ronaldo’s career has been a glittering combination of individual brilliance, multiple success at club level and constant comparisons with the other great player of his generation, Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi. 

Messi has famously never won a major trophy with his country and just a few weeks ago announced he was quitting his national team after their latest disappointment — a Copa America defeat on penalties to Chile, with Messi missing his spot-kick.