Cristiano Ronaldo kisses the UEFA Euro trophy (Video)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s life is complete now that he’s added a UEFA Euro trophy to his name.

Portugal will be remembered for winning Euro 2016 without Cristiano Ronaldo, but that shouldn’t discount his importance to the team, or how well he played leading up to the Final. After he left the Final with a knee injury, Portugal rallied around Ronaldo, and rode their spectacular defense to win their first international trophy.

Even though he didn’t play a significant part in their victory, there’s no way they get to the Final without Ronaldo. If he didn’t score twice against Hungary, they’d probably get eliminated from the group stage. He would later assist on the winning goal against Croatia, score a crucial penalty against Poland, then score the winning goal against Wales.

While Portugal won because of their collective effort, Cristiano Ronaldo was at the heart of it all, and winning a trophy for his country means more than anything he will ever win at Real Madrid. That’s why he took a long time to take in his team’s victory:

After Portugal lost in heartbreaking fashion at home in 2004, this win against the host nation France has vindicated that. And after all Ronaldo has suffered through with his country, he helped get them to this stage, while the rest of the team rallied behind him to win it all.

Ronaldo just witnessed his closest competitor Lionel Messi briefly retire from his national team after they fell short in a Final for the fourth time. But with an improbable win in Euro 2016, if Ronaldo decided to retire, at least he’d do it while on top. Plus Portugal have demonstrated they can win without him.

You have to admire the unbelievable heart Portugal showed throughout the Euros. They’ve given their country something to celebrate for a very long time now, and this is a trophy Ronaldo won’t want to give up.

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