‘I made Cristiano Ronaldo cry after his touchline message – but I’m a Premier League flop’

Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal win the Nations League final on Sunday, but former Swansea City striker Eder also admitted how he inspired his winning goal at Euro 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo was in tears once again as he celebrated winning his third trophy with Portugal, who defeated Spain in a penalty shootout to win the Nations League on Sunday. While Portugal have won the Nations League twice, their Euro 2016 triumph was unexpectedly sealed by Premier League flop Eder.

The former Swansea forward came off the bench and stunned France with a long-range effort in extra time, a goal that would later leave Ronaldo crying in celebration. Eder had been shipped out to Lille after just half a season with the Swans, where he had failed to score in 15 appearances.

Having rebuilt his reputation with the French side, the then-28-year-old forced his way into Fernanndo Santos’ squad after scoring six goals in 14 games. Becoming Portugal’s hero must have felt a long way off for Eder while the £5million signing was struggling in South Wales. However, Eder later revealed that he gained the confidence to score Portugal’s 109th-minute winner after a pep talk from Ronaldo as he waited to enter the pitch.

Ronaldo had limped off injured after 25 minutes, but remained a significant presence throughout the game. He spoke to team-mates and patrolled the touchline alongside Santos as he looked to inspire Portugal to victory. It seemed to have the desired effect on Eder.

“Cristiano told me that I would score when I came on and I just took that energy into my game,” Eder said after the final whistle. “We weren’t the best technical team, but we worked for each other. Since the coach arrived he believed this group could do this.”

Portugal defied the odds throughout the tournament, having remarkably reached the knockout stages courtesy of three draws in the group stage. An extra-time victory over Croatia and penalty shootout drama against Poland led to their only win in 90 minutes over Wales in the semi-finals. However, the manner of Portugal’s Euro 2016 mattered little to Ronaldo.

“Very happy, very happy,” he said in the aftermath. “It was something I tried for so many times since 2004, praying that I would get one more opportunity. The Portuguese people needed it and the players needed it.

“It is one of the happiest moments of my career. I won so many things with my club, individually. I always said that I wanted to win a championship with the Portugal team, to make history, And I won.”

Eder joined Lille permanently that summer and retired in 2022 following stints at Lokomotiv Moscow and Saudi Arabian club Al Raed. Meanwhile, at 40 years old, Ronaldo is captain of his country and got on the scoresheet in his team’s hard-fought win over Spain to win the Nations League for a second time following their inaugural victory in 2019.

Spain’s Martin Zubimendi had opened the scoring, but Nuno Mendes quickly cancelled out his effort. Spain regained the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal before Ronaldo levelled the tie just after the hour mark. The Al-Nassr forward, who later confirmed he will not be moving clubs this summer, was taken off shortly before extra time.

This meant, like Euro 2016, Ronaldo had to watch from the sidelines as the drama unfolded. Ruben Neves scored the decisive penalty, capitalising on Alvaro Morata’s miss, as Portugal scored with all five of their spot kicks. After the match, Ronaldo expressed his delight at securing another international trophy.

“It’s always special to lift trophies. Regardless of the fact that we’ve already won this competition, for me it’s like it’s the first,” Ronaldo said. “You know how passionate I am about being here, about playing for the national team, about wearing my colours. The suffering, the tears. It’s special.

“For our nation, for the Portuguese people here in the stadium, those who are in Portugal cheering for us… My children are Spanish, so they shout ‘Spain’ to make me angry. So it’s special and I’m very happy.

“Winning for Portugal is always special. I’ve won a lot of things, but there’s nothing like winning for the national team. That’s why I really wanted it. I even said at lunch that this generation deserved it and that we were going to win the final.

“We knew it was going to be difficult, against a team like Spain , and I think we deserved it. This gives us confidence to go to the World Cup and see that it’s possible to beat any team in the world.”

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