Portugal 1-1 Iceland: A chilly omen for Cristiano

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

They might only have the population size of Leicester, but Iceland demonstrated on Tuesday night that they are not here to have a party and go home after the group stages.

It was a frustrating evening for Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates

Portugal and their star player Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured) got a rude awakening in St. Etienne. Ronaldo had an off-night and his team failed to build on a promising start given to them by Nani’s first half strike.

Iceland fought back in the second half and thoroughly deserved their 1-1 draw. Ronaldo’s lack of sportsmanship at the final whistle and his comments afterwards were of a man who realises he just doesn’t have the same quality of teammates that he has at club level.

Lacking ideas

The Portuguese completely dominated the first half after Gylfi Sigurdsson missed a big chance in the opening five minutes. Yet even in this period, they were lacking a creative spark.

When they did play some neat, quick football – it worked well. That was demonstrated by Nani’s sweeping finish after 27 minutes, which involved a faster build-up to what had been seen earlier on in proceedings.

Nani played well and was Portugal’s best attacking player in the first half but his form dipped in the second half and so did that of Fernando Santos’ side.

Apart from one dangerous header, Ronaldo didn’t live upto his star billing and as the match worn on, he cut a very frustrated figure. Even his specialist quality of free-kicks weren’t at his usual accuracy.

Afterwards, he criticised Iceland, saying: "I thought they'd won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end. It was unbelievable. We tried hard to win the game and Iceland didn't try anything. This, in my opinion, shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition."

The stats might indicate Portugal had 26 shots on goal but they lacked ideas, inspiration and didn’t deserve to win. It sounds like sour grapes from Ronaldo and his comments didn’t go down well with many afterwards.  

Icelandic joy

Despite only having a population of 330,000 people, there were thousands of Icelandic fans who flocked to St. Etienne to see their team play. Their support was rewarded with a gritty, committed second half showing which could have ended with an even better result.

Iceland’s moment of joy came five minutes into the second half, as FC Basel 1893 winger Birkir Bjarnason volleyed into the bottom corner. He was helped by the defending of makeshift right-back Vieirinha, who was caught out of position, then fell over when he couldn’t clear the cross. The finish though was superb and there was nothing Rui Patricio in the Portugal goal could do about it.

Iceland might be the smallest nation to ever compete at the European Championships but they have improved rapidly in recent years. They only narrowly missed out on the World Cup in 2014, going down in the play-offs to Croatia. They made it to EURO 2016 by finishing second in their group, overcoming Turkey and the Netherlands. The Dutch were beaten twice in qualifying by Iceland and aren’t even at the finals.

They richly deserve their place among the EURO 2016 elite, even if some footballers don’t seem to recognise this and this result, coupled with Hungary’s beating of Austria has suddenly made Group F look very intriguing going into the weekend’s matches.

My best three players of the match

Man of the Match: Hannes Thor Halldorsson (Iceland)

Before this match, Halldorsson is probably most famously known for directing the video of Iceland’s entry in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Now he has another claim to fame. He made eight saves in the game, the most of any goalie at the Euros since Joe Hart vs. Italy in 2012. It was an impressive show.

2^nd: Birkir Bjarnason (Iceland)

Bjarnason worked hard, looked sharp on the ball and he had the time to compose himself and deal with Vieirinha falling infront of him before finishing his goal calmly on the volley.

3^rd: Nani (Portugal)

Nani has always offered the unpredictable in his career. He can either be brilliant or totally non-existent. He was Portugal’s most potent attacking threat in the first 45 minutes and registered his name on the scoresheet. His impact faded in the second half, like the rest of his teammates.