This was Monsieur Salut’s Facebook posting:
Wanted France to win, they deserved it overall but Portugal suddenly burst into life for just enough of the second period of extra time to tear up the script. Both teams responsible for an awful final …
Monsieur Salut introduces the finale of Euro 2016. He can hardly disguise his allegiance, which would have been forced on …
Monsieur Salut writes: tomorrow night, should France do what logic expects and defeat a Portugal side that has won only once in normal time on the way to the Euro 2016 final, the country will be en fête. But the same will go for a part of Sunderland that is forever French.
Salut! Sunderland found a Sunderland-supporting Portuguese fan, Sam Verissimo, for the first of these special Who are You! interviews. Now it is the turn of FrenchFancy1971, as she calls herself on Twitter, Véronique Laniel as she is known in real life, a product of Saint-Etienne – where the film version of Sunderland, the hit Paris play, was relocated – but settled on Wearside with the Red and Whites firmly lodged with Les Verts in her heart. She warns us ‘to read this with a French Mackem accent in mind’ …
Tomorrow: another SAFC season ticket holder – Véronique, a solidly French adopted Mackem – exudes passion for La Belle France …
Monsieur Salut writes: here’s a special treat from the tireless souls at Salut! Sunderland. Many readers enjoy the Who are You? series. Why not one for the Euro 2016 final?
Help was sought from miles around. Loads of friends of this site tried to dig up suitable candidates, a supporter of France and a supporter of Portugal.
And we ended up – I am delighted to say – with two Sunderland fans. Once Ronaldo and Griezmann had declined our offer (“reward in heaven guv, honest”), it could not have worked out better. Shout-outs are due to Kay and Steve, also Sunderland supporters, for putting me on the track of Sam Verissimo, home-and-away regular but also half-Portuguese.
So let’s start with Portugal, whose plodding route to the final has underwhelmed most neutrals. Sam describes himself at Twitter as ‘a born entertainer who apparently looks like Michael Mcintyre’ and has a SoL season ticket despite living in London. He fears the worst for his country on Sunday …
John McCormick writes: Don’t you wish you’d been there? Not for the goals but for the atmosphere? Our away fans really are the best, and here’s one of them, Richy Duggan, with his last post of the Albufeira trip.
Two down, one to go, with a win and a defeat so far. Our man in Portugal, Richy Duggan, offers his report and analysis of the late defeat to CD Nacional. That leaves Vitória Setúbal on Saturday before it’s home for the final fortnight of the pre-season preparations. Richy will be pleased to hear the five World Cup replica balls for his Hendon Young People’s Project arrived yesterday – Salut! Sunderland having to raid the piggy bank to pay excess postage of 57 euros – and will be up on Wearside for hand delivery as soon as M Salut finds himself back for a match …
Last season, CD Nacional finished fifth in the Portuguese top flight,qualifying for the Europa League. So the win that looked for a long while like coming would have been an impressive second win in Sunderland’s short trip to the Algarve, Instead, a late goal brought defeat, Gus Poyet remained upbeat, as managers do when able to pass off pre-season reverses as essentially exercises in fitness and blending. Here’s his post-match e-mail from Portugal’s holiday playground …
From our Own Correspondent, as the BBC might say. Richy Duggan, Salut! Sunderland’s man on the Algarve continues his diary of an enviable little break following the Lads – and the Boys, it seems – on pre-season duty. Mika’s tweet (see below) summed up his own feelings; the picture accompanying this introduction shows him in fan-friendly mode …
Richy Dugggan, project manager at the Hendon Young People’s Project in Sunderland, is among the lucky supporters out on the Algarve for the warm-up trip. Tonight Sunderland play the first of two games, against Recreativo de Huelva, and Richy will be there to pass on his thoughts to us.
You may recognise the name from recent Salut! Sunderland reporting: Richy’s admirable project is the beneficiary of the generosity of Raich Carter junior, son of the Hendon-born Sunderland (and later Hull City) legend.
We have our spies, or at any rate a spy, in Portugal who promises faithfully to act as Salut! Sunderland‘s foreign correspondent. No spies in Lincolnshire, so far as we know, so we must just trust the reporters got it right and Danny Graham really did score. Pete Sixsmith had mates there who can fill us in on the detail if they wish. The man himself felt Tynecastle held more attraction than either, or was just an easier or better trip …