Euro 2016

[monks data]

European Championship | Final

Jul 10, 2016 at 8pm UK

Portugal
1-0
France

Eder (109')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Didier Deschamps: 'France must try to stop Cristiano Ronaldo'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 09 July 2016

Didier Deschamps confesses that he has no real plan to stop Cristiano Ronaldo when France face Portugal, but will at least try to "limit his influence" on the game.

France boss Didier Deschamps has admitted that his side face a tough task trying to deal with the threat posed by Portugal ace Cristiano Ronaldo in Sunday evening's Euro 2016 final.

The 31-year-old has endured a frustrating tournament for large parts, although he proved the difference against Wales last time out to help the 2004 finalists through.

Ronaldo now has three goals to his name in France, with his latest effort in the semi-final - a leaping header to nod the ball past Wayne Hennessey - taking him level with Michel Platini as the competition's all-time top scorer.

Deschamps, who won the World Cup on home soil with France in 1998, must now prepare Les Bleus to deal with the Real Madrid superstar in the showpiece final at the Stade de France.

"If there is an anti-Ronaldo plan, no-one has yet found the recipe," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "He's a top player, he's got great athletic attributes in the air. It's not just that he can get up high, but he can hang there as well.

"I think his abdominal muscles, his six pack is there for a reason. But there are two things that are very tough to combat in football - pace and the aerial threat. It would be great to neutralise him, of course, but we need to be wary and limit his influence. That will be important to do."

Portugal have lost each of the last 10 meetings between the two nations in a run stretching back more than 40 years.