Portugal Wins First Ever UEFA Title On Dramatic Extra-Time Kick

Portugal has won its first European Championship in football 1-0, on a goal by substitute Éder, who scored in extra time after star Cristiano Ronaldo went out injured in the first half of the game.

Ronaldo's injured knee was thought at the time to be the nail in Portugal's coffin, as France was already a heavy favorite going into the game, which was played at Stade de France. Instead, Portugal -- who had been criticized by fans for not being aggressive enough in the games leading up to the Championship -- stepped up and surprised everybody with a win.

Besides being heavy underdogs with an injured star and a club that had never taken home the trophy before, Portugal went into today's game with a string of consecutive losses against France that went all the way back to 1975.

Ronaldo was injured when a kick from Dimitri Payet made contact with his knee, and for the rest of the night, even when celebrating on the sidelines, it was clear that he was in pain. He tried to run the injury off and return to the game, but signaled for relief after just three minutes and was taken off the pitch.

The game was technically excellent but often unexciting as France petered out about halfway through and started to seem like they had no real idea how they might win. Portugal responded with a caution that felt like they were trying not to lose, more than trying to win.

On the sidelines, Ronaldo could be seen amping up his teammates and playing the role of player-coach as the game went on and his injury became a somewhat more distant memory -- but he still never felt well enough to return to the pitch. Perhaps for the best.

After more than 80 scoreless minutes, Portugal's left-back Raphaël Guerreiro blasted a powerful free kick at the start of the second period of extra time that hit the crossbeam, but the ball ended up back in front of Éder minutes later for the decisive goal.