Group F of Euro 2016 kicked-off on Tuesday night with two surprising results, as Hungary defeated neighbours Austria, while Portugal were held 1-1 by Iceland.
Austria went into Euro 2016 as dark horses to win the competition, but made a terrible start to their campaign on Tuesday night, as Marcel Koller’s side fell to a 2-0 defeat against neighbours Hungary.
To add more misery to the defeat centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic was dismissed just after the hour mark. Austria are highly-rated having won nine of their games in qualifying, so the defeat against Hungary, who are arguably regarded as the weakest team in the group has taken many by surprise.
Portugal were favourites to win the group, but the opening round of results mean that they may not control the group as expected. Star player Cristiano Ronaldo endured a frustrating night, but claimed ‘Iceland were negative’.
It was hardly surprising that the Scandinavians were cautious, considering they were major underdogs in their opening game at a major international. The draw was a good start to Lars Lagerback’s side.
Hungary picking-up a win in their first game means there is now more pressure on the other teams in group. Portugal were unconvincing in qualifying and that has continued into Euro 2016 with their performance against Iceland.
There had failed to be any surprises in France until the Hungarian win over Austria. The opening round of games has gone pretty much as football predictions suggested they would.
Courtesy of the opening round of games in this group it is now wide open and anybody could make it through to the knockout stages.