Griezmann suffers double final agony

Paris (AFP) – Euro 2016 golden boot Antoine Griezmann suffered a second heartbreaking defeat in weeks when France lost to Portugal in Sunday’s final.

“It’s frustrating, it sucks, but that’s football,” said the 25-year-old marksman who also missed a penalty when his Atletico Madrid club side lost to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

The Euro 2016 showdown had been widely billed as a battle between Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Griezmann, who scored six goals in the tournament to become France’s new football darling.

“We weren’t as clinical as we were against Germany — we hit the post and I also had some chances — it is frustrating but we’re going to need to come back stronger,” Griezmann said.

“Look, Portugal are not only Ronaldo — they are very solid defensively and they scored without him. We were playing against a great side and they proved that,” he said.

“A bit later down the line I’ll be proud,” he said of his achievement of being the tournament’s top scorer. “But for the moment I’m thinking about my teammates. I’m very disappointed for them.

“We gave everything, we really wanted to win. But we lost the chance to become champions.

“Their goalkeeper made some great saves, we had some chances that went very close. They played well, they scored 10 minutes from the end.”

Griezmann said France must now quickly lift themselves for the 2018 World Cup qualification tournament that starts in September.

“It just wasn’t our night. We can be proud of the squad and what we did. It was a good Euro. Personally it was my second final lost in a month. That sucks. But I am going to try to come back stronger.”