Euro 2016: Don't write off Portugal: Football's perennial overachievers can spring one more surprise

They say Thursday’s semi-final between France and Germany was the real showpiece of Euro 2016. That the winner of that clash - hosts versus world champions - will surely go on to lift the trophy at the Stade de France on Sunday. Seeing off Portugal will be little more than a formality with the hard work already done.

Never before has a finalist of a major international tournament been so readily written off. Having grappled with the expectation heaped on their shoulders - the sense of unease that refuses to shift in France at present, as well as the decision over whether or not to play Olivier Giroud - Les Blues are billed to complete a momentous triumph in Paris this weekend.

It’s even been claimed that Portugal - a side who hadn’t won a game in 90 minutes until their semi-final victory over Wales - are the worst outfit to ever make it to the final of the European Championships. But such suggestions do a gross disservice to what Cristiano Ronaldo and co are on the brink of achieving.

And that's because Portugal are quite simply the greatest overachievers in international football.

In a way it’s somewhat peculiar that Portugal are being painted as some rank outsider ahead of Sunday’s final. The country has made the semi-finals in three of the last four European Championships, boasting one of the game’s most consistent international records. Even in 2008, when they were deemed to have underperformed, they still reached the quarter-finals.

It’s true the quality of their squad doesn’t quite measure up to that of France’s, but they have a three-time Ballon d’Or winner to call upon. In Pepe, they also boast one of the finest centre-backs in the game (when he’s not flailing around, writhing in melodramatic agony) and they also boast a clutch of sparkling young prospects sure to scale the heights of the sport at some point in the future.

That’s the thing about the timing of this Portugal team’s run to the final of Euro 2016. Whilst much was expected of the country’s so-called ‘golden generation’ around a decade ago, the likes of Luis Figo and Rui Costa have long since retired. With the current crop of William Carvalho, Renato Sanches and Andre Gomes still growing into themselves this was meant to be something of a transitional spell.

Instead this team could clinch its country’s greatest-ever footballing honour this weekend. Ronaldo could succeed where Figo, Costa and Eusebio failed before him, and take Portugal all the way at a major tournament. Perhaps it’s time to evaluate just where this would rank on the scale of sporting achievement, paying overdue recognition to one of European football’s most maligned national teams.

Let’s start with the socio-economic factors. Portugal is a nation of just over 10 million inhabitants, yet consistently competes at the top of the international game. Compare that to fellow Euro 2016 finalists France’s population of over 66 million and their overachievement against the odds becomes apparent.

England, a team that hasn’t made the semi-finals of a major tournament for 20 years, has a population of over 54 million, just for reference.

The country’s footballing infrastructure also lags well behind European counterparts of similar stature. Portuguese football received a welcome injection of investment upon its hosting of the 2004 European Championships, with new stadiums and facilities built, but not a lot has changed since then. Not only a small population, but a lack of investment too.

Of course, the honour for biggest overachievers at Euro 2016 has to be Iceland’s. The smallest nation to ever qualify for the championships became everyone’s favourite England-conquerors; they ought to have been well out of their depth this summer and yet they made it all the way to the quarter-finals. Not even Portugal’s run can compare to that.

But over the course of the past decade and a half, Portugal are the international game’s most consistent overachievers. Still some insist they have failed to fulfil their potential over the years, having come so close so many times before without going all the way. Such a stance is ignorant of how Portugal got there in the first place.

Given the odds they have upset in making it to Sunday’s final, it perhaps shouldn’t come as such a surprise if Portugal ultimately topple France. It’s something of a statistical anomaly that Ronaldo was born in the country, never mind the tiny island of Madeira off the coast of Africa. The same could be said of Portugal’s success. But the sample size is simply too large for it to be little more than an anomaly. Their overachievement is engrained in their footballing culture.