Their football culture may be dominated by the global superstar in their No 7 shirt but there is something Portugal knows about winning big matches that goes a lot deeper than the status of Cristiano Ronaldo, in what is becoming a golden dusk to his career.

He lifted the 18th major trophy of his career on Sunday night, if that is what we are to call the Nations League, while excluding all those Supercoppas and Club World Cups, and no-one seems to like a victory parade more than him. He remains the gold-plated machine for goals, the kind of player so famous an opponent cannot help but glance at twice in the tunnel although in the end this victory was about much more than their feted captain.