With Hungary having picked up a point in the earlier game, the onus was on the bigger teams in Group F to get the three points and ensure they do not have a nervy time on the last match day. Portugal and Austria were both looking to move one step closer to the knockout stage.
While Cristiano Ronaldo had to deal with a lot of questions regarding the rather poor performance of his Portuguese side against Iceland which ended in a draw, Austria were humbled by Hungary in their first game.
The game was dominated by Portugal but Fernando Santos’ team just could not get the breakthrough. Even when they were given the chance to score the first goal of the game via a penalty, the ever reliable Cristiano Ronaldo missed.
Portugal huffed and puffed but could not blow the resolute Austrian defence down. Although the result was far from what both teams would have wanted, they still keep their hopes of making it into the knockout stages alive.
We look back at another interesting game and list out the five talking points from the clash.
1) It just was not Cristiano Ronaldo’s night
It was a historic night for Ronaldo as he broke Luis Figo’s record of the most number of caps for Portugal in international football but things were to go horribly awry for him.
The Real Madrid star might be one of the greatest players in the world but he was far from his best in this crucial tie against Austria. Already under tremendous pressure for his statements on Iceland in their earlier game, the best way to get people off his back was if he had scored for Portugal.
Sadly, the former Manchester United star could not get the better of Austrian goalkeeper Robert Almer. While most of his shots in the first half were saved, Ronaldo was given the opportunity to give Portugal the lead via a penalty, which he won in the second half, but the attacker hit the post.
Cue a few minutes later and it seemed that Ronaldo had finally broken the deadlock but his header was ruled out, correctly so, for offside. Portugal now have to win in their last game against Hungary and without Ronaldo firing on all cylinders, it might be tough for the side to get the desired result.
2) Another horrible night for David Alaba
If the first game against Hungary was tough for the Bayern Munich star, this game just proved that the Austrian is not the finished deal for his national side.
Alaba was touted to be one of the players to watch out for in Euro 2016 but the 23-year-old had an absolutely torrid night against Portugal as he was played in a more advanced role just behind Martin Harnik.
The Austrian was marshalled really well and closed down as soon as he got the ball to ensure he had no influence on any attacks and looked frustrated in the first half. It was not a surprise to see Alaba being substituted in the 66th minute by his manager Marcel Koller.
Alaba might be one of the best performers for Bayern Munich but he is yet to replicate that performance for his national side and Austria do look to be exiting the tournament, after being touted as one of the dark horses for the competition.
3) The Portugal front trio needs a lot of work
Everyone was expecting Cristiano Ronaldo to start the game as the central striker with Nani and Ricardo Quaresma playing on either side but surprisingly it was his former Manchester United teammate Nani who started down the middle and had the best chances in the first half.
Nani should have tested the Austrian goalkeeper early in the first half with a header but missed the target. The Sporting Lisbon man then should have given Portugal the lead but he headed onto the post, thus keeping the score tied.
Ricardo Quaresma though, had an off night and the only memorable incident from his performance was getting booked for dissent.
Portugal don’t play with a central striker and that is hurting their chances and with a crucial tie against Hungary coming up, Fernando Santos will have to take some tough decisions if his side are to qualify for the next round.
4) Austria should thank Robert Almer for the point
Austria didn’t really threaten the Portugal defence in the entire game and it was Portugal who did all the attacking. Ronaldo’s side had over 20 shots on goal against the Austrians and it was one man who stood tall during the barrage of shots.
Many would not have heard about Robert Almer, who plays for FK Austria Wien, but the 32-year-old was the kryptonite to everything that Portugal threw at him or at least Ronaldo threw at him.
The goalkeeper kept every single shot of Ronaldo’s out, including a brilliant save at the start of the second half. Even when Almer was beaten, the footballing Gods were there to help him out.
Cristiano Ronaldo sent Almer the wrong way in the penalty but the Portuguese ended up hitting the post while his headed goal wasn’t given due to the Real Madrid man being offside. Almer got Austria the point and it was no surprise that he was Austria’s best player in the game.
5) All to play for in Group F
The revamped format of the tournament certainly has given us a lot of surprise performances by some of the lesser known teams but the fact that four of the best third-placed teams would also qualify from the groups, should keep things interesting.
While Hungary are more or less through into the next round, any one of the other teams can qualify as second in the group. Iceland and Portugal are on two points each while Austria sit on just one.
Iceland play Austria while Portugal face Hungary in the last group games and it will be a nervy affair for the three remaining sides looking to qualify for the next stage of Euro 2016.
Both games will kick-off at the same time and you can be sure that there will be a lot of tension amongst the fans, as they hope their respective sides are not knocked out from the group stages.
