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22-1 Portugal silence the hosts to land Euro title

AN EXTRA-TIME goal from Eder proved the difference as 22-1 pre-tournament shots Portugal beat hosts France 1-0 in Paris to win the European Championships for the first time in their history.

The result was welcomed by most bookmakers who were pleased to get the antepost tournament favourites beaten.

In a match that was low on quality, Eder’s rasping strike in the 109th minute was enough to justify pre-match quotes of 19-10 about Portugal lifting the trophy.  

The eventual winners were dealt a massive early blow when Cristiano Ronaldo was injured in a clash with French midfielder Dimitri Payet. 

The Real Madrid superstar received treatment and returned to the pitch on more than one occasion but he never looked comfortable before being was stretchered off in tears in the 24th minute. 

Without their talisman, Portugal regrouped fairly well in the latter part of the first half as the scores remained level at the break.

After a slow start to the second period, Antoine Griezmann - so brilliant in the semi-final against Germany and a 4-1 shot to open the scoring - missed the best chance of the 90 minutes as the Atletico Madrid man headed over the bar from six yards out just after the hour mark.

With a goal looking less and less likely, Hugo Lloris was nearly caught out in the French goal by a lofted effort from Nani. The Tottenham stopper then had to react quickly to save the resulting overhead kick from Ricardo Quaresma.

As the match edged toward extra-time, French substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac turned the Portuguese defence but his injury-time shot cannoned back off the post, the rebound just eluding the lurking Griezmann. 

At the break, France were still 1-2 favourites with Portugal 13-8. No goalscorer was available to be backed at 6-1 before kickoff. 

Eder, on for Renato Sanches, almost broke the deadlock for Portugal just before the halfway point of extra-time but Lloris was able to beat the ball away.

Finally the breakthrough came, but not the one that the majority of the Stade de France crowd wanted as former Swansea man Eder rifled past Lloris. The hosts tried to get back into the game but they failed, leaving the Portuguese team and supporters to celebrate.

Portugal centre-half Pepe received the Man of the match award, which was available at 33-1 prior to kickoff. 

Steve Freeth, of bet365, reflected on the result, which triggered the firm’s 0-0 ‘Bore Draw’ concession:

“We’ve given back around £5m on the final, but at least it didn’t go to penalties – the ‘Penalty Payback’ offer on top of ‘Bore Draw’ would have been horrendous!”

 “Portugal winning was a good result in the outright book in a tournament, after a poor start, that ended up being bookmaker-friendly.”

Bet365 have priced up Portugal at 10-1 to successfully defend their title at Euro 2020. France and Germany are 4-1 co-favourite while England are a 12-1 chance.

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