Editor,

RE: "Euro 2016: Portugal crowned champions after Cristiano Ronaldo goes off injured” (The New Times, July 11).

The Portuguese fully deserve their victory. To defeat France, in a Stade de France overflowing the rafters and fully and noisily behind the hosts’ cause, after Portugal had lost their talismanic player, Cristiano Ronaldo, to repeated French cynical fouls is truly a heroic feat.

Nevertheless the French also deserve kudos for getting to their own final after outplaying the feared Germans in such a tactically masterful manner, and also for the successful organization of this sporting extravaganza in a particularly difficult security and social climate. And this comes from someone who usually has few kind words to say for anything French.

And contrary to how disappointed fans of France might try to denigrate Portugal’s final victory for not having been brilliant (drawing all their Group matches and squeaking through into the knockout stages as among the best third), as opposed to France that so ably won theirs, it is always the better team that wins, not the one whose moves are most pleasing to the eye.

Winning is the only way to demonstrate your worthiness, not how you do it. Many years hence all we shall remember is that Portugal were the Euro 2016 Champions, not how they and France got to the final. And, in any case, the last I looked, an effective defence was always considered an integral part of brilliance in any sport, including football.

Remember the Italian legendary catenaccio, anyone, on which the Azurri Team of old, built many of their many brilliant international successes against more fancied opposition?!

Portugal played to their strengths and won against a team of individual stars, but not as cohesive as their own more ordinary players, especially after their single most charismatic player was fouled off the pitch by cynical French players with nary any sanction from the officials.

And, by the way, Portugal did to France no more than what the latter did to the Germans in the semi-final, in which the Mannschafts dominated Les Bleus 70-30 but ended up being knocked out by a more solidly defensive team which was also more efficient in fully converting its few chances. France, despite home advantage, dominated Portugal by only 54-46, and both teams had a roughly equal number of near misses.

Conclusion: No hold-up; like it or not, victory really went to the more deserving team. The one that knew how to go about snatching it.

Mwene Kalinda