Flashes of footballing brilliance in a modest Euro 2016 tournament

There’s no point sugar coating it. A modest tournament produced extremely moderate winners.

Far more durable than dazzling, Portugal somehow became champions of Europe having beaten just one of seven opponents inside 90 minutes. Sneaking in the side door to gatecrash the party, they are the team that simply refused to go away.

Watching the final, as it so often is with Fernando Santos’ side, was a laborious process.

Lulling France into their type of match, sitting deep, retaining a rigid shape and playing a slow brand of functional football, they largely nullified a host nation that couldn’t rouse themselves on the biggest stage.

An early knee injury to Portugal’s talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to play into French hands perfectly. Not so. Instead, being Ronaldo-less galvanized the eventual winners.

Superb displays from Rui Patricio, Pepe, Jose Fonte and William Carvalho ensured a clean sheet, before Swansea City flop Eder struck the most glorious of winning goals in extra-time; a quality moment at odds with the rest of the showpiece.

So against all odds it’s Portugal that depart Euro 2016 with winners’ medals around their necks.

But who, and what else, deserves a gong? Here’s my tournament Hall of Fame…

BEST PLAYER – ANTOINE GRIEZMANN (FRANCE)

Euro 2016 was more notable for its big-name flops than stand-out stars, but let’s not take anything away from the competitions’ top scorer Antoine Griezmann.

Steering France to the final, the razor-sharp 25-year-old is an all-round forward who makes things happen.

Just as deadly in the air as he is on the deck, the left-footer has elevated himself to world-class level.

BREAKTHROUGH STAR – RENATO SANCHES (PORTUGAL)

Powerful on the ball, borderline arrogant in possession, Portugal’s teenage midfielder has the sort of skills and mentality that helped the Dutchman enjoy a stellar career. Clearly comfortable on the big stage, his is a name we are all going to hear a lot more of in the years to come.

BEST MATCH – WALES 3 BELGIUM 1

In terms of quality and drama, nothing could beat how Wales dismantled a Belgian side that is ranked second best on the planet.

Riding an early storm to fight their way back into it, Wales produced a gutsy but comprehensively brilliant performance that few us believed they were capable of.

Great goals, awesome individual displays, and tremendous teamwork helped them prevail. Watching this game unfold made me happy.

BEST GOAL – XHERDAN SHAQIRI (SWITZERLAND) V POLAND

Honourable mentions should go to Hal Robson-Kanu (the best Cruyff turn since Cruyff first did it) and Cristiano Ronaldo (back flicks don’t come any more gorgeous) but the most special strike we witnessed came from Switzerland’s Shaqiri, whose spectacular scissor kick didn’t give the Polish goalkeeper a prayer.

BEST TREND – JINX BUSTERS

Euro 2016 sounded the death knell for a number of long-standing bogeys.

Germany had never beaten Italy in a major tournament. A penalty shootout win ended that jinx.

It had been 60 years since France beat neighbours Germany in a finals contest. The wait is over.

Therefore I guess we should have expected Portugal to end their barren run of 10 straight losses to Francein the final.

BEST FEATURE – EXCEPTIONAL FANS AND REFEREES

The football Euro 2016 served up was too bland, too often. It wasn’t a tournament crammed with memorable matches, attacking tactics or special players. The positives I’ll take from it are the atmospheres created by supporters, and a surprisingly high standard of refereeing.

The Icelandic ‘Viking Thunder Clap’ was a joy to watch and could become the new Mexican Wave, while the colour and noise supplied by almost every nations’ fans was tremendous.

Managed by the wonderful Pierluigi Collina, the officiating was on a level I’ve never previously seen.

Taking a dim view to theatrics, letting games flow, and only dishing out cards as a last resort, the refs were a breath of fresh air.

About the author:

Adrian Clarke is a former Arsenal midfielder who has played at every level of the English game. Now an experienced sports journalist, he writes for TODAY and several well-known football websites. Follow him @adrianjclarke