Santos praises Portugal: We're simple as doves, wise as serpents
Paris - Portugal coach Fernando Santos said he did not mind how his team won and the Selecao claimed the European Championship title on Sunday with another "ugly" victory.
Santos hugged his injured star player Cristiano Ronaldo when the Stade de France spectacle finally ended after 120 minutes. But in the end it was not goals from Ronaldo that decided the contest but Santos' wily tactics that paid off.
Santos: "We were as simple as doves and as wise as serpents."#EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/sEXcCEptft
— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) July 10, 2016
Portugal was under pressure most of the game but again stole it from host nation France at the crucial moment. Eder's extra-time shot killed off French hopes.
Santos said he believed from the first day of the tournament that Portugal would be in the final. The 2-0 win over Wales in the semi-final was the Selecao's only victory in 90 minutes of regulation time in seven matches at the tournament.
The 61-year-old coach said Portugal was the "ugly duckling" side.
"Would I like us to be pretty? Yes," said Santos after the quarter-final win over Croatia, also in extra-time. "But in between being pretty and being at home, or ugly and being here, I prefer to be ugly."
How prescient those words turned out to be.