Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal come up empty against Austria in Euro 2016 group game
Cristiano Ronaldo experienced a night to forget on his record 128th Portugal appearance Saturday, missing a late penalty in a 0-0 draw against Austria that left his team winless after two matches at the European Championship.
As goalkeeper Robert Almer dived to his left, Ronaldo struck the spotkick in the opposite direction but it crashed against the post in the 79th minute.
Ronaldo did find the net find minutes later, but there was no 59th Portugal goal for the forward as it was ruled out for offside at the Parc des Princes.
It summed up another substandard game in France for the Portugal captain, who is still waiting to score in a record fourth European Championship.
“We have to take our chances,” man-of-the-match Joao Moutinho said, without singling out Ronaldo for blame.
If the Portuguese are as profligate in the final group game against leader Hungary, they could be going home early after also drawing their opening game against Iceland.
Austria is off the mark after opening with a loss to Hungary, ensuring a tight conclusion to Group F.
Iceland and Portugal are both on two points, two behind Hungary.
“We can’t wallow in our own misery,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said through a translator. “There is a final to play on the 22nd — our first final of these Euros and then the team can grow.”
Portugal requires the same guile and speed of a post-match selfie-seeker.
There was a brief security scare after the final whistle when a fan rushed onto the field to approach Ronaldo. A steward intervened, but Ronaldo allowed the fan to pose for a selfie.
Hungary 1, Iceland 1: There are good draws and there are bad draws. Iceland has had one of each.
The tiny island nation, making its debut at the European Championship, came close to winning its first match at a major tournament on Saturday, but a late own-goal gave Hungary the draw.
“We were so close,” said Iceland forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. “It’s quite a big loss for us, this draw.”
Iceland’s opening Group F match also ended 1-1, but that was against Portugal. The final whistle on Tuesday was met with jubilation, a far cry from the despair that followed Saturday’s ending.
Iceland was leading at Stade Velodrome after Gylfi Sigurdsson converted from the penalty spot in the 40th minute, but teammate Birkir Saevarsson then scored an own-goal in the 88th.
Hungary now has four points in Group F and looks set to qualify for the round of 16. Iceland has two points and next plays Austria.
Belgium 3, Ireland 0: Romelu Lukaku scored two second-half goals to help Belgium bounce back from its opening defeat at the European Championship, with a convincing victory.
Belgium’s victory in the Group E match in Bordeaux on Saturday owed much to its much-vaunted attack, which finally sprang to life in the second-half following a fairly lackluster display in the opening 2-0 loss to Italy.
Having wasted a series of chances in the first half, Belgium — one of the favorites to win the European Championship — started the second strongly and it wasn’t long before the team went ahead.
Lukaku struck in the 48th minute after a swift counterattack that owed much to Kevin De Bruyne’s burst down the right flank. Lukaku controlled De Bruyne’s square pass before driving the ball low into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Axel Witsel doubled the score in the 61st, when he jumped above Ireland midfielder James McCarthy to crisply head in Thomas Meunier’s cross for his first international goal in nearly two years.
In an attempt to claw back the arrears, Ireland took a more attacking posture, but the team was once again caught out by a pacey Belgian counterattack. Eden Hazard raced down the right from inside his own half before squaring for Lukaku, who slotted the ball past Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph in the 70th.
