Portugal beat France to become Euro 2016 champions

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) is ecstatic as he holds the Euro 2016 trophy after his side beat France 1-0 in the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday. (Photo: AP)

A thundering out-of-the-blue shot by substitute Eder gave Portugal a shock 1-0 win over France in the European Championship final, delivering the country’s first international title as superstar Cristiano Ronaldo watched injured from the touchline.

Ronaldo was stretchered off in tears in the first half and limped on crying with joy again after his side delivered the final knockout blow in the tournament of upsets.

Hosts France dominated the game, as they had nearly every match since the start. But they could not break down a Portuguese defence in which man-of-the-match Pepe was majestic and goalkeeper Rui Patricio produced a string of dramatic saves.

Up against a French team with a whole nation behind them, Portugal held their own to defend doggedly and threatened occasionally without their inspirational skipper. With 109 minutes gone, Eder beat off a Laurent Koscielny challenge to fire a shot from outside the penalty area that French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could not even get a hand to.

France misfired. Their striker Antoine Griezmann, highest goalscorer of the tournament, could not penetrate the Portugal defence. His early header drew a finger-tip save from Rui Patricio. Moussa Sissoko also drove a thundering shot over the bar while substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac hit an extra time shot against the post.