“Then there is the problem that you might forget the other players around him”.
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After 31 minutes, Portugal had another chance when from a corner, Nani headed towards goal. Their players booed Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid ace was condemned for his post-match rant but Santos says his captain was the victim. His hooked effort from 10 yards was comfortably saved.
Cristiano Ronaldo had an absolute nightmare, firing a penalty on to the upright as Portugal were pegged back to a 0-0 draw by Austria.
If Portugal were to at least contemplate an alternative, they might not be ruing yet another failure to translate their dominance into three points.
Nani’s interplay with Raphael Guerreiro on the left flank led to the ball being squared invitingly to Ronaldo but he sent the shot wide in the 28th.
And with 11 minutes to go it appeared Portugal would get the goal their display merited when they were awarded a penalty after Martin Hinteregger wrestled Ronaldo to the ground.
The Portuguese started to dominate things again as Ronaldo attempted one of his long range knuckleball free kicks only to see it hit the wall.
He thought he had redeemed himself five minutes from time as he rose superbly to head home a free-kick but the flag was raised. Every game is going to be hard, we all know that. Quaresma’s re-introduction into the starting line-up after recovering from injury gave them an added dimension up front. The players on the bench kept heckling. Quick slick passing by Portugal in the Austria third.
Group F is wide open.
Austria makes three changes after losing its opening game to Hungary 2-0. Defender Aleksander Dragovic will serve his suspension for the red card against Hungary that was part of the sequence of events that flipped Austria from favorite-to-win to likely-loser in the last match. Austria still have their fate in their hands.
Portugal had 26 shots in their opening game; the most of any nation across the first round Euro 2016 matches.
Storck said at his post-match press conference: “I’m proud of my side, that we had so much possession and played football, always trying to stretch the game. He helped the side, supported his team mates”, Koller said, indicating that Alaba’s role for the next game would be more advanced. But it’s important for all of us to have taken a point.
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Iceland 1-1 Hungary – Iceland looked to have wrapped up the win and with a place in the last 16 before Hungary struck late to force an own goal from Birkir Saevarsson and place one foot in the knockout stage.
