Monday 11 July 2016 10:52, UK
Martin Tyler has been commentating for UEFA at Euro 2016 in France and sharing his experiences here on skysports.com. In his final diary entry reflects on the moths and important moments of the final in Paris...
Many people will say the final of Euro 2016 symbolised a disappointing tournament.
But for me it symbolised what can be achieved with a team ethic and hard work. Portugal had an inner belief and won the game in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo to prove they are not a one-man team.
They hadn't beaten France in 10 meetings and France hadn't lost at home in a major tournament since the same day - July 10 - in 1960. Those records were torn up by an extra-time goal from Eder, an unlikely hero who hasn't scored a goal for Swansea, but has scored the most important goal in Portugal's history.
Nani has changed beyond belief from his time at Manchester United. He took responsibility, was full of energy and his stock is on the rise after a fabulous tournament.
And what about the left-back, Raphael Guerreiro, who grew up just three or four miles from the Stade de France? He was overlooked by the French system, so his father took him down the Portugal route even though he hardly speaks a word of Portuguese.
We also enjoyed the sight of Ronaldo acting as Portugal's assistant manager during extra-time (although I doubt he'd be happy about the word 'assistant'). I'm not sure what he was doing in Didier Deschamps' technical area!
And I must praise Portugal's actual manager, Fernando Santos who is an amazing guy. He won all seven qualifiers he took charge of and has now taken them to their first major trophy, 50 years after finishing third in the 1966 World Cup.
In October 2014, his first game in charge was a 2-1 loss to France in the Stade de France - and afterwards he insisted he was pleased with his team and vowed to return on July 10, 2016. He was true to his word.
When Portugal lost at home to Greece in the 2004 final, there was evidence of complacency and underestimating the opposition - but that can't be said of France under Didier Deschamps.
There were lots of football factors, but I think a really important one was the schedule. Unless UEFA change the way they schedule the tournament then the team that wins the first semi-final will always beat the team in the second one.
France played in Marseille on Thursday night and would not have got to bed until the early hours of Friday morning ahead of a Sunday final.
At the end of a long tournament, they had no time to recover and the longer the game went on, the stronger Portugal got.
Why could the semi-finals not be played on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a Sunday final? Or even on the same day back-to-back?
Another big talking point is, of course, the infestation of moths in the stadium. Apparently the commentary positions were completely covered on Saturday and throughout Sunday, but it was sorted out.
They obviously irritated the players during the warm-up and I had to remove one from inside my polo shirt during the commentary. I was glad to be wearing casual clothing rather than a smart suit!
I've been doing this job for a very long time and I've never had to deal with anything like that before.
The French supporters sing a song in English called 'Feel the magic in the air', which I changed to 'Feel the moths in the air' during commentary.
Speaking of songs, David Guetta was an integral part of the evening - much to the delight of my co-commentator (and Soccer AM rapper) Alan Smith.
I hear his performance wasn't shown on British television, which shows a lack of respect for Mr Guetta. I'd never heard of him before I came here, but he's been an important element of Euro 2016 - especially for Smudger!
So congratulations again to Portugal and to France for hosting the tournament so well. I look forward to speaking to you again when the Premier League season starts in a few weeks' time.
