Ronaldo strike eliminates Morocco

Portugal will remember the Euro 2024 as another golden opportunity squandered to get silverware with arguably one of the most talented bunch of footballers, but for their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, the tournament will remain as a case of whether the 39-year-old forward has stretched his international career one tournament too long.

Portugal -- boasting an enviable midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Vitinha, and Joao Palinha -- exited Euro 2024 in a lacklustre way, playing out a largely dull 120 minutes in the quarterfinal in Hamburg on Friday night against France, only to lose 5-3 on penalties.

Ronaldo did step up and convert the first spot-kick during the shootout, but the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was largely amiss throughout the game -- like he had been the entire tournament.

Ronaldo skying a Francisco Conceicao cut-back from close range in extra-time -- Portugal's best chance from open play on the night -- or his failure in sprinting past France's William Saliba in the right flank showed that he is neither a threatening presence inside the box nor is he the one to pose threats with his blistering pace like he once used to.

In fact, if anything, Ronaldo looked like he was the one holding a talented Portugal side back -- hogging the free-kicks despite his abysmal record of converting only once from 61 free-kicks in major tournaments -- and shunting the likes of far more pacy Diogo Jota and Goncalo Ramos in the sidelines.

Did Ronaldo push it one tournament too far this time? If this question was a point to ponder at the beginning of the tournament for which Portugal qualified as the only unbeaten side with Ronaldo top-scoring for his side with 10 in the qualifiers, the Al-Nassr forward has only validated those doubts with his underwhelming performances in Germany.

The former Real Madrid forward is still the record goalscorer in Euros, with 14 goals in 30 matches, but he failed to become the oldest player to score in the tournament. Apart from scoring in shootouts, he has failed to net a single goal in five matches.

It seemed like Ronaldo was about to pip his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, whose goal against Italy in the group stage this tournament saw him become the oldest goalscorer in the history of the Euros at 38 years and 294 days, to the milestone when he stepped up to take a penalty in extra time in their Round of 16 game against Slovenia.

However, Jan Oblak denied Ronaldo with a brilliant save, reducing the mighty footballing figure into tears -- a sight for which the legions of fans of the ever-so-proud Ronaldo and even the entire world were not ready.

While Ronaldo somewhat redeemed himself when he converted the first penalty from shootout in the Slovenia game before Diogo Costa heroics -- the Portuguese goalkeeper thwarted three successive penalties -- propelled Portugal to the quarters, that moment of weakness might just have shown that even Ronaldo started doubting himself.

If Ronaldo had made himself known for anything in his illustrious career spanning over two decades is that he always backs himself to get back up and shut the critics with goals and more. But that moment of him breaking down in tears and later apologising to fans for his mistake showed the world a different Ronaldo, who perhaps knows that age has eventually caught up to him but is yet not fully ready to accept the fact.

Ronaldo mentioned that this was his last dance in the Euros, but has not said anything about drawing curtains on his international career yet. "It's too soon and raw after the match to talk about that and there have been no individual decisions made," Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who has been his biggest supporter in this tumultuous time, said when asked if it was Ronaldo's last game in a Portugal jersey.

Ronaldo's dedication and fitness will most likely allow him to go on for at least a few more years outside of Europe, a route that he had already chosen as he now plies his trade for Saudi Pro League team Al-Nassr. But maybe the time has come for the all-time top international goalscorer to realise that he is only tarnishing the grand reputation that holds him alongside the best footballers in history by overstaying his welcome at the international level.

Newspapers and TV stations hailed France's World Cup victory on Monday, while clean-up crews worked against the clock to tidy up after a crazy night's partying in Paris ahead of a victory parade down the Champs Elysees.

"Our Day of Glory Is Here" declared Le Figaro, referencing a rousing line from the Marseillaise anthem.

"History Made" announced sports daily L'Equipe, while business journal Les Echos went for the more straightforward "Champions of the World". Photos of superstars Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, as well as shots of the team holding aloft and kissing the trophy, dominated coverage.

The victory has created a sense of national unity, with commentators playing up the fact the squad, the second-youngest in the competition, includes many with central and north African heritage, even if all but two were born in France.

When the country won its first World Cup in 1998, when Zinedine Zidane was its talisman and playmaker, the team was referred to as "Black-Blanc-Beur" (Black-White-Arab), a positive reference to its diverse ethnic make-up.

Gallery: France fans celebrate

But some were keen to push that phrase to one side, seeing in it a sense of separateness, even if it was meant positively.

"We're not in 1998," said Mounir Mahjoubi, the secretary of state for digital affairs, whose parents emigrated from Morocco.

"We're not still celebrating 'Black-Blanc-Beur', we're celebrating brotherhood," he said of the current team.

Videos shot by the players in the frenetic changing room after the win showed them singing, dancing and raising a toast together, while teaching President Emmanuel Macron, who could barely contain his excitement, how to do a "dab".

METRO STATIONS

For Macron, who became president last year at the age of 39, taking his political movement to victory against the odds, the football team's success is likely to have positive repercussions after a slump in the polls.

The Paris metro system got into the celebratory mood, announcing the names of a number of stations were being briefly changed to honour the players and coach, Didier Deschamps.

So Notre-Dame des Champs station was relabelled "Notre Didier Deschamps", and Victor Hugo was switched to "Victor Hugo Lloris" after the captain and goalkeeper.

The 2 km Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe and the vast Place de la Concorde turned into a heaving sea of people on Sunday night, waving red, white and blue flags, setting off firecrackers and blowing horns until early morning.

On Monday, the after-effects were still visible. A number of smashed windows, an overturned car and graffiti scrawled here and there, including the phrase "Liberte, Egalite, Mbappe", a reference to the national motto "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite".

On Twitter, Brazil legend Pele paid tribute to the exploits of Mbappe, France's standout, 19-year-old superstar, saying that if the teenager kept equalling his goal-scoring records, Pele might have to strap his boots back on.

Mbappe replied to the tweet in English saying "The king will always remain the king", quickly gaining 15,000 retweets.

The team is scheduled to arrive back in France at 1400 GMT, with crowds set to gather at Charles de Gaulle airport to receive them. A parade down the Champs Elysees is scheduled for 1530 GMT, and there will be a formal victory reception with Macron at the Elysee Palace at 1630 GMT.

And it's not just in Paris that the nation has been taken over with football fever. From Nice and Marseille in the south to Lille in the north, Nantes in the west and scores of towns and cities in between, TV stations were full of images of red, white and blue clad fans singing in streets and squares.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced on Tuesday that his country had joined the bid by Spain and Portugal to host the centenary World Cup in 2030.

The announcement means that war-torn Ukraine is likely to be dropped from the bid.

King Mohammed made the announcement in a message delivered as he was named the winner of the African Football Confederation 2022 Award of Excellence in Kigali, where world governing body FIFA is holding its annual congress.

A spokesman for the Spanish football federation told AFP it would meet with its Portuguese and Moroccan counterparts in Kigali on Wednesday, but made no mention of Ukraine.

"The presidents will announce any news regarding the candidacy for the 2030 World Cup in Kigali," the spokesman added.

Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October.

In contrast to the distance between Ukraine, and Spain and Portugal, Morocco is separated from Spain only by the Strait of Gibraltar.

A South American bid including Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile is set to challenge the Iberian bid, and Saudi Arabia hopes to lead a joint ticket with Egypt and Greece.

The World Cup has had joint hosts before.

In 2002 Japan and South Korea shared the competition. In 2026, the finals will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, when 11 of the 16 planned venues will be in the US.

The 2026 World Cup will expand from 32 teams to 48 and, under the format FIFA announced on Tuesday, will stretch to 104 matches, up from 64 in Qatar last year.

Morocco was the other candidate for 2026 but finished a distant second in the voting.

That was the fifth time Morocco had bid to host the finals after trying for 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

Morocco had already said it planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup, which has been held in Africa once, in South Africa in 2010.

"This candidature will be a gathering of the best on both sides, and the demonstration of an alliance of genius, creativity, experience and means," said King Mohammed in his message, read by the Moroccan Minister of Sports Chakib Benmoussa.

At the last World Cup, in December in Qatar, Morocco became the first nation from either Africa or the Arab world to reach the semi-finals.

The first World Cup, in 1930, was hosted and won by Uruguay, which is making a joint bid with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.

Didier Deschamps proclaimed France’s second World Cup triumph was “just as beautiful” as their first after leading them to glory again 20 years on, but Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said that Deschamps' team "did not play football."

"I'm disappointed because we lost the game, we played much, much better football than them, but on the other hand I'm proud of this team and what we have achieved," Lovren said.

"We played beautiful football again. France were one of the favourites to win the World Cup and they did it. I think we were better. They did it another way. They didn't play football, they waited for their chances and they scored. They had their own tactic and you need to respect that. They played the tournament like that, every game, but when you look at all the countries behind us, we're second.” he added.

"There's nothing to talk about now. It's difficult to describe. Maybe after a week or two, a couple of months... right now, it's difficult. Some moments I feel sad, some moments I'm happy. Overall, I'm proud."

Ivan Perisic conceded the first-half penalty after referee Nestor Pitana penalised him for handball following a VAR review.

"I was sure he would not give the pen," said the Liverpool centre-back. "From my point of view, he [Perisic] could not react.

"It was a critical moment, we came back at 1-1, and then this penalty and then 3-1, 4-1, but even then we didn't stop playing football, we still believed, we gave everything, and this is why people are proud now in Croatia."

Didier Deschamps' side had claimed a 1-0 over Belgium in the semifinals with a defensive masterclass which left Belgium star Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois deeply unimpressed with what he felt were overly cagey tactics by France in the semi-final, and now Lovren also felt the frustration of coming up against Deschamps's style. Not always the most entertaining, however, in the end, French squad just had too much talent at its disposal to get the job done.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 900th goal of his remarkable career on Thursday as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in Lisbon in their first game of the UEFA Nations League.

Ronaldo, 39, turned in a Nuno Mendes cross in the 34th minute of the match at the Estadio da Luz to reach the landmark.

He appeared emotional as he celebrated the goal, his 131st in a Portugal shirt. Half of his goals were scored for Real Madrid, with the remainder spread across his spells at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and current club Al-Nassr.

Diogo Dalot's goal had put Portugal in front early on before Ronaldo netted, with a Dalot own-goal reducing the deficit before the break.

The teams are in Group A1 of the latest edition of the Nations League along with Poland and Scotland.

Portugal host Scotland in Lisbon on Sunday.