The last match in the opening round of Euro2016 fixtures sees Portugal taking on Iceland in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday evening. After this match we will have seen all 24 sides in the competition and will have a better chance to assess how it will play out.
Austria and Hungary are the other sides in this group so I’m sure both teams are looking at this and thinking they have a real chance of making it out and potentially landing themselves a nice draw in the next round.
You have to say Portugal’s record in this tournament is very good with three semi-final defeats in six appearances in the event but when you look at the players they have had in the past and the global superstar they currently enjoy it is a surprise they haven’t been all the way in the competition.
Whenever you have a player like Ronaldo you always have more attention around and with that comes more pressure and not all of the players have been able to cope but it should be said that even if Ronaldo doesn’t fire they are defensively solid so might only need one goal to win games.
Key Man
I don’t think this one needs too much second guessing! Cristiano Ronaldo is the difference between an okay side and a potentially very good one. He raises the standards of those around him and performs to a high level himself. His form will determine how far Portugal go in this tournament.
The Icelandic men will be featuring in their first major tournament here and having out-qualified the Dutch to make it this far they automatically merit respect. They are a well drilled side who have some solid attacking options who can impact matches.
A concern would be how their form tailed off once they had qualified although in fairness that is only understandable given how much of a huge deal just making it here was. We’ve already seen Wales suffer the same thing. Their form dipped and then they made it here and when it mattered again in their first match they stood up and delivered.
Key Man
I always think the talisman in a side is the one who plays for the best club side or in the biggest league and in this case that is the Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson not only brings real quality to the side but he is someone who will take the pressure off the others by wanting the ball and doing the right things with it.
Head to Head
This will be the third meeting between these two sides. The first two were both won by Portugal in qualifying for Euro2012. Both matches were won by two goals but Iceland are a much stronger side now.
Betting
Without looking too much into the details and the figures of Iceland you would think this will be an easy Portugal win but I’m not so sure it will necessarily be like that.
This Iceland side are no longer any pushovers. We only need to see their success at younger levels to know a good side is coming through their ranks, many of whom have already been put into their side. While Iceland’s form coming in has been patchy you actually have to go back three years, all the way to the World Cup qualifying playoff for the last time Iceland were beaten by more than one goal further highlighting how they can hang in games and are never beaten out of sight.
Of course if anyone is capable of beating a side out of sight it is going to be one containing Cristiano Ronaldo but we’ve seen throughout this tournament that teams are taking time to get up to speed in this competition and what might be big wins later in the event are becoming narrow ones now.
When we last saw Portugal against England they were truly awful. I don’t think they’ll be that bad again here with Ronaldo in the side and his appearance may well lead them to victory but the stats, form and recent history suggest if Iceland do lose it’ll only be by the odd goal. At 9/4 that’s my pick.
Tips
Back Portugal to win by 1 goal for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Skybet
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