The captain of the Portugal national football team Cristiano Ronaldo dedicated his team's victory in the European Football Championship in France to "all Portuguese and immigrants."
Ronaldo said that after suffering an injury, he was no longer able to continue playing in the final match held in Paris, in which Portugal's eleven defeated the tournament host France with a score of 1:0.
"I tried to come back. My knee was hurting too much and I couldn't continue," the forward said.
"We lost our leader and hope tied to him because Ronaldo is a player who can score at any moment. At that moment, I told my teammates that we had to win for Ronaldo," said Pepe, recognized as the best player of the final.
"The coach prepared us excellently. The substitutions were made at the right time. We gave our blood, sweat, and tears for this victory. We wrote a wonderful page in the history of Portuguese football," added Pepe.
"It wasn't the final I wanted, but I am very happy. This trophy is for all Portuguese, all immigrants, all the people who believed in us, so I am very happy and very proud," said Ronaldo.
According to Portuguese officials, there are approximately 1.2 million Portuguese citizens and people of Portuguese descent living in France.
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