Shocks, Surprises at Euro2016!

*Iceland holds Portugal, Hungary stuns Austria

Rank outsiders Iceland fought back to salvage a memorable 1-1 draw with Portugal as they made their major tournament debut at Euro 2016 last night. Earlier, Hungary had stunned favourites Austria 2-0.
Birkir Bjarnason took advantage of slack defending by the Group F favourites to sweep the ball home for Iceland from six metres in the 50th minute.

Nani had given Portugal the lead by turning in an Andre Gomes pass following an incisive move down the right in the 31st minute.

Portugal dominated the game as expected but Iceland, backed by a noisy army of blue-clad fans, battled to the end to make it an unhappy evening for Cristiano Ronaldo as he made a record-equalling 127th appearance for his country.
Earlier, Hungary produced a Euro 2016 shock with a win over 10-man Austria as both teams opened their campaigns in France.

Austria almost scored the quickest ever goal at the Euros but David Alaba’s shot after 28 seconds hit the post.
Hungary contained their rivals and took the lead when Adam Szalai slotted in Laszlo Kleinheiser’s pass.
A disappointing Austria had Aleksandar Dragovic sent off for a second bookable offence before Zoltan Steiber sealed Hungary’s win with a composed dink.

Hungary were back at a major tournament for the first time since the 1986 World Cup and triumphed by virtue of superior work-rate, organisation and quality.

They might not have had as many household names as their rivals but they had more of a team ethic and were rewarded when Szalai – having been involved in the build-up twice – put them in front. In the closing moments Steiber coolly lifted the ball over the keeper to seal the win.

It was also a memorable day for Hungary keeper Gabor Kiraly, 40, who overtook Lothar Matthaus’ record to become the oldest player to appear at a European Championship finals.
He defied his years when he dived low to his left to save Junuzovic’s deflected shot but, overall, he had little to do.

Former West Brom and Fulham midfielder Zoltan Gera, 37, was an influential presence for Hungary in midfield as he made the most tackles of any player on the way to a famous win for his country.
Austria had high hopes at Euro 2016 after they won nine out of 10 matches in an unbeaten qualifying campaign.
However, Alaba’s early effort aside, they struggled to live up to the expectation as key forwards Zlatko Junuzovic, Marko Arnautovic and Marc Janko were comfortably marshalled by the Hungary defence.