I am happy for Cristiano Ronaldo!!!

There have been great Portuguese players; from Eusebio down to the supremely talented Luis Figo but there can be no greater Portuguese footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo has cemented his status forever by leading his country to win a first ever senior football title — Portugal are European champions due in no small measure to their talisman, Ronaldo!

Derided, hated, abused, but most of all, many are envious of the superbly gifted and handsome 31-year-old, but one thing no one can take from him is his passion and dedication to his craft.

Some say he is just arrogant — I would advise that they catch up with the history and journey of the late Muhammad Ali.

As a precociously talented youngster, he burst into world consciousness in 2004 when Portugal contrived to lose 1–0 to Greece in the Euro final and he was pictured in tears.

And Ronaldo’s day on Sunday began literally in tears of sadness after a knee injury meant that he had to leave the pitch with just 22 minutes on the clock. A bad collision with Dmitri Payet ensured that the Selecao would play a large bulk of the most important football match in a decade without their talisman.

But it ended in tears of joy. After Sunday’s triumph, Ronaldo said, “I have been looking for this for a long time, since 2004.” Yes, the tears have been wiped away.

From that 2004, he transferred to Manchester United, where he won the Champions League. He then transferred to Real Madrid, where he has won two more Champions League trophies — the second just a mere six weeks ago.

Ronaldo has now won every competition in which he has played the final — the Euros, the Champions League, World Club Cup, Copa Del Rey, FA Cup, League Cup, so do not bet against him at the next World Cup, if his country can climb to that zenith.

Ronaldo continued, “I have been looking for this for a long time, since 2004.

“I asked God for another chance at this because we deserved it. Today I was unfortunate, I was injured but I always believed that these players, together with the strategy, would be strong enough to beat France.

“This is one of the happiest moments in my career. I always said I’d like to win something with Portugal.”

At the other end, Didier Deschamps said, “The winner always merits their trophy.

“They [Portugal] didn’t make it to the final by chance.

“This is the first time a team who finished third in their group finishes as European champions. They didn’t win many games in normal time, but they won the important one.

“Perhaps there were some other generations in Portuguese football with more talent, but they didn’t win. This team won.”

And they won with more than a little help from Ronaldo, who though hobbling poured his spirit and determination into the 11 players who finished the job he started during the qualifiers as he almost single-handedly dragged his nation to France. Now Vindicated! Rejoice Ronaldo, at the least; you are the greatest footballer in Portugal’s history!