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SAINT-DENIS, France -- Football is a cruel game. Sometimes even for its winners.Cruel because Cristiano Ronaldo had to watch the victory of his life -- at least one of them -- from the sidelines.Portugals name, for the first time, is now engraved on a major trophy. But one of the enduring memories of the European Championship final will be that Ronaldo played too small a part in the 1-0 win against France for him to deserve being anointed as world player of the year for a fourth time. Truth is, Portugal played better without him.And cruel because France lost in the very stadium that suicide bombers attacked last November. After that horror there was a solid argument to be made that the French would have been more endearing winners, that a pick-me-up trophy could have helped speed their recovery from the trauma.And also cruel because in six games before they lost their scoring touch in the all-important seventh match, the French on balance played better football at Euro 2016 than Portugal.Wales, in the semifinals, was the only team the Portuguese beat inside of 90 minutes. Against France, it took them 109 minutes for Eder to burst through Les Bleus defenses, with a stunning strike.Lets also not forget that, in Portugal, Europe has a champion that didnt win any of its group-stage games and only squeezed into the knockout stages, with just three points, thanks to the more forgiving format adopted for this expanded first tournament with 24 teams. Critics who feel that the new systems addition of eight teams has come at the expense of footballing quality will doubtless argue that Portugals victory proves them right.But, as the French themselves say, cest la vie -- or, as English speakers would say, thats football. Because footballs stubborn refusal to follow the script is what makes it so compelling, this final again offering strong evidence of that.Who, after all, would have penned only a cameo role for Ronaldo, now the proud owner of one type of winners medal that Lionel Messi doesnt have, in Portugals Hollywood moment?As at Euro 2004, we again saw Ronaldo cry -- this time after his left knee buckled in a scrap for the ball in the 9th minute with Dimitri Payet. Normally, the French winger tends not to bother himself with the grunt work of tackling and defending. But Payet and his teammates were combative, even borderline aggressive, in the opening half where they quickly swarmed over Portugals defenses. France, a team that used to be bullied, most infamously in losing a 1982 World Cup semifinal to Germany, was the more physical side.To be fair to Payet, the injury to Ronaldo wasnt malicious, but rather just one of those things that can happen when one man clatters into another at an awkward angle. Portugals captain tried soldiering on. When he sat down on the field, distraught, in need of treatment, a moth settled on his right eye, as if coming to dry his tears. With the knee strapped up, a sprint up field that finished in a hobble made it clear that Ronaldo couldnt continue. Referee Mark Clattenburg called on the stretcher bearers and that was it. Ronaldos final was over, after just 25 minutes.Liberated of their attention-grabbing superstar, no longer at the beck and call of his demands to give him the ball, his teammates played better, sharing the workload, getting into Frances box in numbers and giving French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris more to think about.For the French, this will be remembered as another final they should have won, like the 2006 World Cup final unhinged when Zinedine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi. Euro 2016 top scorer Antoine Griezmann twice came close to winning it. And Andre-Pierre Gignac saw what would have been a certain match-winner rebound off the post in injury time before the game went to extra time.But, with time, the if and buts will perhaps matter less than the fact that reaching this final was proof that France is now out of the long trough that followed its 2006 World Cup loss to Italy, with the nadir being a strike by French players at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.Going forward, France again has a team it can be proud of. All but one of its starting 11 against Portugal either play abroad or, in the case of Barcelona-bound Samuel Umtiti, are on their way overseas. The French domestic leagues bleeding of players to foreign shores proved to be Les Bleus gain at Euro 2016. Their street-wise football and their handling of the heavy weight of host-nation expectations owed no small debt to the experience and expanded world view players have picked up on their travels. Eder, Portugals match-winner, also plays overseas, for Lille in France.From France, football will now look, with some trepidation, eastward to Russia, host of the sports next major tournament, the 2018 World Cup. Then will come Euro 2020, which will be spread confetti-like across 12 host countries, followed by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.All present logistical challenges for traveling fans. Although the quality of the football at Euro 2016 wasnt always much to shout about, it will be fondly remembered for easy French pleasures and for Frances security measures that helped keep the 31-day tournament safe from the threat of more terror attacks without souring the mood.For that, we can all be grateful.---John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester Cris Carter Womens Jersey . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Garrett Bradbury Youth Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. http://www.thevikingsshoponline.com/Youth-Randy-Moss-Vikings-Jersey/ . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Brett Favre Womens Jersey . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Dalvin Cook Jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Sydney coach John Longmire will keep paying no heed to his players birth certificates after his youthful AFL sides survival of a torrid challenge from a spirited Carlton at the SCG.Lance Franklin booted four goals on Saturday afternoon as Sydney eked out a 10.14 (74) to 10.8 (68) victory.After four losses by 10 points or less, the Swans held on against a combative Carlton, who emerged with plenty of credit despite suffering a sixth straight loss.Eight of the Swans were 22 or younger and nine had played less than 30 games. When you look at the make-up of our team, those blokes were getting untold experiences, Longmire said.You can talk about it, you can even rehearse it and do a lot of things, but theres nothing like living something - being able to have those experiences which hopefully will hold them in good stead.Asked if he could afford to field such a young side leading into the finals, Longmire said: we wanted to play our best team regardless of the birth certificates; we wanted to play the players that were in form and playing well.Thats what well continue to do.The Blues pressured Sydney and went toe-to-toe with the Swans deep midfield brigade.They led by three points at the first change and eight at halftime.Sydney looked to have made a decisive surge by scoring the first 28 points of the second half, including four goals.Trailing by 20, Carlton dug in and kicked the last two goals of the term to trail by just seven at the final change.The Blues had much of the play in the final quarter but couldnt convert that into points against the competitions stingiest defence.ddddddddddddhe third quarter was one where I think we were trying to be a little bit too precise under pressure with the ball and missed some opportunities to go forward and take ground, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said.Were proud of our progress, but by far not satisfied with close losses.Youngsters Aliir Aliir and Xavier Richards started well for Sydney, whose third-quarter lift was sparked by Isaac Heeney and Gary Rohan, each of whom had a quiet first half. Rohan finished with eight possessions, but pulled off eight tackles.He doesnt have to have a lot of the ball to have an impact on the team and the opposition and thats what he did, Longmire said.What got us right in the hunt in that third quarter was pretty simple footy.It wasnt a lot of technical work ... it was just our fierce energy and contest.Josh Kennedy starred for the Swans with 35 possessions (23 contested) and 12 clearances, with Jake Lloyd accumulating 26 touches and Luke Parker 24 disposals and two goals.Four players tallied more than 30 touches for Carlton with Patrick Cripps notching 32, 22 of them contested, 12 tackles and 11 clearances.Ed Curnow was their only multiple goalkicker with two majors.Bolton said Charlie Curnow would require a scan on a knee injury and expected him to miss multiple games. ' ' '