A really strong, but fair, tackle from Dimitri Payet early in the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo went down, with a clash of the knees causing the Portugal captain to writhe in pain. Now, Ronaldo is someone who, usually, does not need a second invitation to go down, but after getting some treatment, when the Real Madrid man, the big superstar of this Euro 2016 final, went down onto the ground in tears a second time, you knew this was one of those sad moments in football.
To watch one of the star players having to go off injured with barely a quarter of the game gone in a major tournament final is one of those "oh dear, now that is a real pity, that is not what we wanted to see" moments.
When Ronaldo sat down on the ground after failing to run off the injury in the 18th minute, with a moth, realising the magnitude of the situation, seemingly trying to calm him down, almost every player on the pitch walked up to him, showing their concern.
It looked like his night was over at that point, but the Portugal medical team refused to give in, took a fair bit of time in taping up the left knee of their captain and back came Ronaldo, hoping against hope that he would be able to run off the injury, after all.
However, off a quick counterattack, when he needed to put the after burners on, it became clear, for the final time, that Ronaldo would not be able to have his say in the Euro 2016 final and guide Portugal to victory at the Stade de France.
The tears came raining down again, there were expressions of disbelief amongst the Portugal players as one of the two best players in the game was taken off in a stretcher, with even the France coach Didier Deschamps going out of his way to give his commiserations.
France were handed a big advantage after Portugal's worst nightmare came true, and while they took a little bit of time to find their attacking mojo, following a bright start, the hosts went about their business eventually, with the Portuguese, determined to stay strong for their fallen captain, holding firm till halftime, and then the 90 minutes, before it was Eder time in extra time.
