Despite the fixture being the proverbial dead rubber(having both lost to England and Hungary, neither side could make it to make the semi-finals) there was national pride at stake and that was more than enough to make it a potentially entertaining encounter. And entertaining it was.
I'll admit that I went into the Tameside Stadium not expecting a particularly high standard of football (France, for example, had lost 10 - 0 to England in their opening game of the competition 10-0) but what I saw was better than many of the matches I've been over the past few seasons.
I've no idea at what level many of the players perform at away from the Championships (I know a few England players ply their trade in non-league) but the skill level on both sides was very high. The standouts though were the Portugese midfield pairing of Nelson Paulo and Luis Teixeira who were, frankly, fantastic to watch and wouldn't look out of place in many a side.
Sadly the attendance was incredibly disappointing which is what happens when a) England are playing at the same time three miles away and b) there's been little in the way of advertising. In relation to the latter it's unforunatley a sign of the times when the only way you can get a mention in the local media is if it paints the local council/councillors in a good light or it's related to either of the two b's: boxing and Bower Fold.
It's not just the media though. One of the competitions biggest backers, the FA, can't find room to publicise it on the front two pages of its web site. The competitions governing body INAS-FID hasn't updated its site since February, and their parent organisation MENCAP can only find room for the smallest of mentions on their home page.
All of which adds up to something of a shame as the teams efforts deserve to be seen by more people.
I could wax lyrical about the game for a while but as action speaks louder than words you're far better off just watching some of the highlights. 'Some' being the operative word as what follows was originally three times longer due to the number of chances and other notable incidents that occurred; so many in fact that the battery on my camera ran out seconds after the final whistle, something which didn't even happen during the three hour play-off marathon between Stalybridge and Southport back in May.
Things to watch out for include France being led out by the flag of the Netherlands, more examples of why "I Feel Good" being played over the P.A. system is sometimes inappropriate after a goal and Portugal's second from Luis Teixeira which is a doozy:
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