This may not have been the greatest tournament but it has been pretty good to be around nevertheless.

A portion of that has been down to the success of a French side that might have come off the rails under the weight of all the pressure had Dimitri Payet not saved them seconds from time with his winning goal in the opening game almost exactly a month ago.

The strike itself was superb – Romanian goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu stood no chance as it flew to the top corner – but the outpouring of relief and joy that followed at the Stade de France gave a sense of its significance to the wider nation.

Its significance to Payet himself was apparent moments later when Didier Deschamps allowed the crowd to show their appreciation, not just of the goal but one of the standout performances of this entire championship, by bringing him off with just seconds left on the clock.

They stood almost as one to hail the 29-year-old as their hero and he left the pitch with tears in his eyes as his emotions got the better of him.

He wasn't the only one, a few of us in the press box welled up just a little in the heat of the moment and Belgium's Eden Hazard issued a tweet with three "Wow, what a performance," type emoji faces plus four clapping hands.