It's cruel and magnificent at the same time: France's Griezmann

France football's poster boy Antoine Griezmann, who clinched the Golden Boot award at the just-concluded European Championship, on Monday said his team experienced both extraordinary moments as well as the saddest moments in the tournament.

Griezmann may have drawn a blank in the 1-0 final loss to Portugal on Sunday but he did win the Euro 2016 Golden Boot ahead of Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and compatriot Olivier Giroud.

Griezmann, who finished with six goals, opened his Euro account with a 90th minute effort against Albania in the second match. However, it was during the knockout stage that he really started to motor.

"It's cruel and magnificent at the same time. We've lived through some extraordinary moments, and the saddest moments as well. We have to learn. But tonight we gave it our all and we have no regrets. I'm proud of the squad, proud of everybody. Now we have to come back stronger," Griezmann told uefa.com.

"Maybe later I can feel proud, but for now it's about the group. I'm very disappointed for my team-mates. I really wanted to offer them this trophy, but I couldn't score and I'm disappointed," the Atletico de Madrid star who scored twice against Germany in the semi-finals added.

France captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris congratulated Portugal for the win and said his side lacked accuracy at the last moment in the final clash.

"At the end it was about details. We created lots more chances than them. We were lacking some accuracy at the last moment. That's part of football. We need to congratulate Portugal as they were very strong mentally throughout the tournament," Lloris said.

"For us it was a very positive experience. We are all very disappointed and upset not to win this trophy. We can still build on what we have for future years," the captain added.

--IANS

ac/tri/bg