Former goalkeeper Eduardo believes Portugal has pulled together after a difficult journey to Euro 2016 and points to a turning point

Former goalkeeper Eduardo says the national team’s difficult journey to the 2016 European Championships, which they would go on to win, was important for team unity and sees the game against Hungary as decisive.

The former international, who did not play a single game in the tournament, recalled the team’s poor start under Fernando Santos, as evidenced by the fact they finished Group F winless thanks to a 1-1 draw with Iceland. Austria (0-0) and Hungary (3-3), and access to the next stage is only in the category of the best teams that take third place.

“It is important to realize that [um Europeu] It is a journey of several difficulties and it is not because we win at the beginning that we will be happy at the end, we have had this experience in the past. This time the opposite happened. We knew how to endure, the team knew how to hold on and understood that difficulties had to be overcome,” Eduardo, now 41, tells Lusa agency.

Former goalkeeper, who became famous thanks to Sporting de Braga, and also played for Beira Mar, Vitoria de Setubal, Benfica and abroad: Genoa (Italy), Istanbul BB (Turkey), “ Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Chelsea (England) and Vitesse (Netherlands) even believes that this was what “transformed, united and energized” the team “for the final phase”, where, as he recalls, the team again I had to “know how to suffer.”

“We have great talent, and it was important to form a team and a group of people who would fight for the same goal. This is what we understood at the European Championship: unity and a point of balance in order to achieve success in the end,” he reinforced.

Called upon to choose the decisive game, Eduardo points to a three-goal tie with the Magyars, with Nani’s goal (42 minutes) and Cristiano Ronaldo’s B (50 and 62) negating the advantages the Hungarian team had. achieving goals from Zoltan Gera (19) and Balazs Dzsudzsak (47 and 55).

“In this game with Hungary [ao intervalo] We came into the dressing room and discussed what had happened for some time, and even from the selector himself there was a kind of bang on the table, a call for attention. From then on, the team really got it and we started to build and unite towards the ultimate goal of winning,” he says.

Then there was an extra-time victory over Croatia (1-0) in the round of 16, a battle with Poland won on penalties (5-3) in the quarters after a 1-1 draw in the tournament. end of 90 minutes and extra time and, finally, the only victory in normal time, in the “half”, over Wales (2-0).

In the final in Paris against France, again in extra time after the score was 0-0 after 90 minutes, Eder’s ‘kick’ made history.

Eight years later, Eduardo recalls a “unique moment” for the athletes, fans and Portuguese people as a whole.

“It was the first title won by Portugal and, given its size, it was a statement for the country. We had the best players in Europe and the world, but as a team we never won it. We may have already won.” deserved it several times, and we had this happiness [em 2016]. Above all, it was a confirmation in Europe of the talent that we have nurtured for generations, and hopefully the future will also be successful,” he says.