Unfair enough

Two weeks ago, Lionel Messi cried on the pitch after the Copa América Centenario final. On Sunday night, Cristiano Ronaldo cried during the Euro 2016 final. Both appeared disappointing as well as disappointed with themselves. The only difference is Cristiano could askew the terrible tackle he faced and hop on to the stage to hold up the trophy as if nothing happened to his knee. Years down the line, people won't remember that Portugal managed to win just one match (within the 90 minutes timeframe) in the entire tournament. People won't remember that Portugal got lucky with the draw as it didn't have to face any of the major contenders (France, Germany, Spain or Italy) until one of them showed up in the final. People won't remember the boring defensive anti-football tactics Portugal assumed throughout. (It almost felt like LvG was their manager.) People won't even remember that Cristiano played less than half an hour of final. The only thing people will remember is Cristiano won Portugal their first ever major tournament. Similarly, people won't remember Argentina won all the matches (within the 90 minutes timeframe) in fantastic fashion. People won't remember the reasonably tough draw Argentina had and overcome. People won't remember the attacking football Argentina adhered to making it less yawn-worthy for the audience. People won't remember Messi quite literally shouldered the team to the final as he's used to now. People won't remember he didn't even appeal for a penalty after losing his balance for which he was amusingly yellow-carded. People won't remember any of the other penalty shootout misses (including Vidal's) from that night. People won't remember the countless chances he created for his team-mates to squander. The only thing people will remember is Messi lost all of the four major finals Argentina was in. 

That's how cruel football can be.