The ghost of ‘Ederdona’ torments France: “I still remember the Euro that we lost in 2016”
“It was a Portuguese-style victory,” recognized Joao Palhinha to highlight the hard-fought victory in the round of 16 -on penalties- against Slovenia. Of course, by that rule of three, There is no greater “Portuguese-style victory” than the one achieved against France (0-1)in the final of Euro 2016.
‘Les bleus’, hosts, could be seen raising the Cup to the sky of Paris when In the 109th minute of extra time the most unexpected protagonist appeared to play the ‘Maracanazo’ and give Portugal the first title in its history.
That July 10, Ederzito António Macedo Lopes (Bissau, 1987) was promoted from Éder to ‘Ederdona’. The truth is He was not scheduled to play, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury at 25′ disrupted the plans of Fernando Santos, who In the 79th minute he decided to introduce him instead of Renato Sanches to have a leading reference.
“I had not played in the previous games, but from the first day I knew that my opportunity was going to come. When Fernando Santos called me to come in, I told him: ‘Mister, don’t worry, I’m going to score.’ He had never done it before. Cristiano also told me that he would score and that gave me strength,” recalls Éder, retired in 2022, but whose shirt continues to be a ‘trending topic’ among the ‘twisted’ Portuguese.
When Fernando Santos called me to come in, I told him: ‘Mister, don’t worry, I’m going to score.’ He’s never done it before
Portugal ‘bailed water’ as best it could when, suddenly, Eder received from Moutinho, He got rid of Koscielny and beat Lloris with a right hand close to the post stump from 30 meters. It was his fourth international goal – he scored five – and his first in an official match.
“I was next to him yelling at him to pass the ball to me,” says Nani. “I was right behind him and I was about to shout at him not to shoot, but I preferred not to say anything so as not to influence him”remember Joao Moutinho. “I thought: ‘Don’t let him shoot’. He was too far away,” adds Cédric Soares.
Luckily for Portugal, he didn’t listen to anyone. “I received it, I went into the middle, I saw the goal and I only thought about finishing. It didn’t seem very far to me, then I realized it was. “When the ball hit the net, I couldn’t believe it,” admits the author of the most important goal in the history of the ‘Seleçao das Quinas’.
It didn’t seem very far to me, then I realized it was. When the ball hit the net, I couldn’t believe it.
His goal promoted him to national hero status: “A lot of people come up to me and tell me what they were doing at that moment. It’s very gratifying.” However, Eder, at that time in Lille, He also had to pay a ‘toll’: “When we went to play outside, people insulted me. It was a problematic period, one to forget.”
“It may surprise you what I’m going to say, but I don’t have a bad memory of that game. “I think that if we hadn’t lost that game we wouldn’t have won the World Cup.”assures Guy Stephan.
However, no matter how much Deschamps’s ‘right hand’ denies it, the ‘spirit’ of ‘Ederdona’ continues to torment France eight years later. “I am full of enthusiasm and nostalgia. The Euro that I lost in 2016 is still in my subconscious. “It’s the competition of my dreams,” revealed Olivier Giroud at the beginning of the tournament, before knowing that he would be reunited with Portugal and his old ‘ghosts’ from the past.
