PARIS — Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Portugal before becoming the last of the football superstars to arrive in France for Friday’s start of the European Championship Finals.
With the host nation under a state of emergency over feared terror attacks, strict security has greeted Ronaldo and other headline players as well as the hundreds of thousands of foreign fans gathering for the month-long, 51-match fiesta.
France launches the tournament with a Group A game against Romania Friday at the Stade de France which was one of the targets of the Nov. 13 attacks last year.
Ronaldo scored twice in a 45 minute appearance for Portugal in their 7-0 win over Estonia Wednesday night, their final match before their first Group F game next Tuesday against Iceland.
The three-time World Player of the Year, looking to add a first international trophy to his accolades, banished doubts over his fitness with his two goal display that allowed Portugal to head for France full of confidence.
“It has been a long season,” he said.
“I would have liked to have played more tonight, but I need to hold back and give others playing time.
“I feel good. There is still a week to go. What I want is a good start to the Euros and an even better finish. It is a difficult competition to win, you have to go step by step.”
There is also much focus on France, looking to add a new triumph on home territory after its triumphs in the 1984 European Championship and 1998 World Cup.
Coach Didier Deschamps, captain of the 1998 side, is charged with lifting the spirits of a nation beset by social unrest and fears of a repeat of the attacks in Paris last November which killed 130 people.
France has ramped up security, but two million visitors are expected to attend matches from Lens in the north of the country to Nice on the Cote d’Azur and the Stade de France, which will host the opening game and July 10 final.
Deschamps’s preparations have been further disrupted by accusations of racism from Real Madrid star Karim Benzema after he was excluded from the squad over an investigation into his role in a sextape blackmail scandal.
France’s Paul Pogba will still be one of the most watched stars at Euro 2016 alongside the likes of Ronaldo.
France will also see Zlatan Ibrahimovic grace an international tournament for possibly the last time in the colors of Sweden, while Gareth Bale will hope to have a big impact as Wales return to a major finals for the first time since 1958.
“We’re not going there just to make up the numbers,” Real Madrid forward Bale told the BBC recently.
The expanded finals could also see the younger stars of European football announce themselves on the international stage, from England teenager Marcus Rashford to Bayern Munich’s David Alaba.
“It doesn’t seem real,” 18-year-old Rashford said of his surprise inclusion just four months after making his Manchester United debut.
“To be here now is just amazing. For it to be in my hands to go out and help the country is an amazing feeling.”
Only eight of the 24 teams will be eliminated in the group stage giving a host of less-fancied nations a chance to shine on the big stage.
Northern Ireland and Hungary return to major tournaments after three-decade absences, while it will be the first ever finals for the minnows of Iceland and Albania and Iceland.
“It will be tough, but we’re capable of springing a surprise,” Albania forward Shkelzen Gashi told World Soccer.
“We’re going there to enjoy the occasion, sure, as it’s the first time Albania has ever appeared in a major tournament, but we also want to give a good account of ourselves.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Spain is seeking to put a desperate World Cup showing two years ago firmly behind them to win an unprecedented third straight Euros.
However, its preparation was blighted by a 1-0 defeat at home to Georgia, ranked 137 in the world, Tuesday.
“We shouldn’t set any limits,” their coach Vicente del Bosque said. “We can’t say if we get to the semifinals we will be happy, we need to aspire to win it.”
For once expectations in England is not sky-high around its team’s chances. Coach Roy Hodgson has an exciting young squad at his disposal and the increased margin for error in the group stage may help his team.
Three-time world champion Italy also has limited expectations, but that didn’t dissuade a raucous welcome from hundreds of fans upon their arrival in the southern city of Montpellier Wednesday.
An injury-ravaged Germany has the youngest squad at the finals but arrive as the world champion and will take some beating, even if many see France as the favorite.
