Paris (AFP)
What remains of the final of Euro-2016 won by the Portuguese (1-0 ap), in addition to the French regrets?
At the time of the revenge, Sunday in the League of Nations in Saint-Denis, half of the finalists still actively officiate among the two selections.
Rare players of the European summit, played on July 10, 2016 already at the Stade de France, have since moved away from the Selecção and the Blues, including two definitely.
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They are still there
Of the 28 players who set foot on the pitch that night, around fifteen are still regularly included in the squad of the two selections, in addition of course to the two untouchable coaches Didier Deschamps and Fernando Santos.
On the French side, Hugo Lloris has not left his captain's armband.
Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Paul Pogba continue to form the backbone of the Blues, even if the latter suffered many injuries that prevented him from wearing the tricolor tunic last season.
Forwards Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial, absent for their part at the 2018 World Cup, have come back well in recent weeks while Moussa Sissoko, absent this month, is still regularly called.
Among the Portuguese, the defensive hinge José Fonte - Pepe is still present, even if the young Ruben Dias disrupts the hierarchy of the holders.
The same phenomenon occurs with the goalkeeper of Euro Rui Patricio, replaced in September by the Lyonnais Anthony Lopes, but aligned Wednesday against Spain (0-0) in a friendly.
Side Raphaël Guerreiro and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo are still indisputable, unlike midfielders William Carvalho and Renato Sanches, more often substitutes.
Wolverhampton player Joao Moutinho appears more regularly in the starting XI, after he started the 2016 final on the bench.
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They moved away
Among the Blues, even if they returned after the Euro, André-Pierre Gignac (Tigres / Mexico) and Dimitri Payet (Marseille) have been far from the selection for a few years.
For defender Laurent Koscielny (Bordeaux), injured just before the 2018 World Cup, the end was sadder, with the end of his international career announced in the fall following the coronation in Russia.
Still at the gates of the Deschamps team, Blaise Matuidi and Samuel Umtiti are nevertheless in difficulty.
The first has just been exiled to Inter Miami, the second lacks playing time in Barcelona and has a series of injuries.
The Portuguese hero of the final, Eder (32), author of the coronation goal, went into exile at Lokomotiv Moscow and has not donned the international jersey since November 2018. The same goes for striker Nani, who is now playing in Orlando (MLS) and has been out of the selection since 2017.
As for Cédric Soares, Adrien Silva, Joao Mario and veteran Ricardo Quaresma, they have not been seen in Selecção since 2018.
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They hung up their crampons
Four years after the title won, no Portuguese has retired.
On the French side, however, two players are now far from the field.
Right-back Bacary Sagna has not had a club since the end of his lease at the Impact Montreal at the end of 2019. Patrice Evra ended his career in July 2019, after a few years in Marseille and then West Ham.
Composition of the teams during France-Portugal in the final of Euro-2016 (1-0 ap), July 10, 2016 at the Stade de France:
France: Lloris - Sagna, Koscielny, Umtiti, Evra - Pogba, Matuidi - Sissoko (Martial 110th), Griezmann, Payet (Coman 58th) - Giroud (Gignac 78th)
Portugal: Patricio - Cédric, Pepe, Fonte, R. Guerreiro - W. Carvalho, R. Sanches (Eder 79th), A. Silva (João Moutinho 66th), J. Mario - Nani, Ronaldo (Quaresma 25th).
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