If you had your money on Portugal winning Euro 2016 at any point, before or during the tournament, you my friend are a genius. The Portuguese came in as somewhat as an after thought, as many had teams such as  - but not limited to - Spain, Germany, France and maybe even England ahead of them.

They did not do much in the early stages, failing to outright win any of their group stage matches, and not even scoring a goal within the first 90 minutes of regulation until the knockout stages. Still, any team with Cristiano Ronaldo can not be counted out.

Then it must be even more deflating for France and any French fans that a team with the star power of les bleus could not get the victory, even when the opposing team's best player went down in the 25th minute; on their home soil nonetheless!

Surely, all of Portugal and all of France thought with almost absolute certainty that France would lift the trophy after Ronaldo finally limped off the field for good after receiving treatment on the sidelines two other times.

Watching the game, it's hard to decipher if France dominated, or if Portugal just did not have the quality to earn a victory for themselves. Early on the Portuguese could not get their spacing in attack right, were relegated to the margins and could not get any decent shots to challenge French goal keeper Hugo Lloris.

France on the other hand had their foot on the gas the entire match, and had two chances that just missed (apparently they didn't bring the luck they had against the Germans to this match). Antoine Griezmann, the darling of the tournament, missed a golden chance in the 68th minute, heading one just over the crossbar from maybe five yards out.

Andre-Pierre Gignac had everyone gasping when he shot the ball off the left post in the 92nd minute, which of course would have ended it there and then.

But reality is he didn't and it was Éder, who came on with 11 minutes left in regulation who will be the hero of Euro 2016 and be immortalized in Portugal. Sending in a low liner from outside the box, he made manager Fernando Santos look like a genius for sending him in. The goal was only his first scored in a competitive international match, and none will be more important, that is for sure.

Photo: Flickr