France and Portugal: Combined XI
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On Sunday night, millions of football fans across the world will have the pleasure of watching some the world’s best players, from Hugo Lloris, to Paul Pogba to Nani, all the way through to Cristiano Ronaldo, in the Euro 2016 final.
Ahead of the game, I’ve taken a look at the squads of the two competing teams; France and Portugal, and have taken players from each to create a combined XI.
Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Choosing between Hugo Lloris and Rui Patricio wasn’t a hard decision, with the Tottenham man being in superb form, he had to prevail.
Right Back: Bacary Sagna
There have been few better fullbacks throughout this summer’s tournament.
Sagna mainly gets into the XI on merit for his performance in the semi-final on Thursday night.
Centre Back: Pepe
Despite being very physical and being prone to fouling at times, Pepe is a very consistent defender with an eye for the ball who can pull a team through a tough period.
Centre Back: Laurent Koscielny
The Arsenal defender is clearly very talented but can often be overlooked by the French team, despite putting in very confident performances of late.
Left Back: Raphael Guerreiro
The now Borrusia Dortmund fullback has shown his potential this tournament, however, this choice was touch and go with Patrice Evra.
Centre Midfield: Renanto Sanches
He has been world-class so far this tournament, showing his talent especially with his goal in the quarter-final.
Centre Midfield: Paul Pogba
Pogba was mediocre for most the tournament, however, his header helped take France through the quarter-finals.
His performances have improved steadily since the group stages and at the end of the day; he is a great player.
Right Wing: Nani
The explosive winger has played with confidence and skill so far this year, chipping in with goals and assists consistently, there was no other obvious choice.
Left Wing: Dimitri Payet
Loved by West Ham fans and now France fans as well, Dimitri has been superb all season.
He particularly shone during the Group Stage of the tournament.
Forward - Antoine Greizmann
What a character!
Scoring six goals throughout the tournament; it’s no wonder that France fans have absolutely fallen for him.
Forward - Cristiano Ronaldo
How could he not have made the eleven?!
Ronaldo had a slow start to the tournament but his form quickly picked up and he is now knocking in goals and assists left, right and centre.
Simply brilliant.