News

Hungary and Iceland land surprise results

Veteran goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and two Bundesliga players brought Austria crashing back down to earth after their sensational EURO 2016 qualifying campaign. The now oldest keeper in European Championship history, plus Hoffenheim’s Adam Szalai and Hamburg’s Zoltan Stieber helped Hungary earn a surprise 2-0 victory over David Alaba & Co. to send them top of Group F.

Bayern star Alaba came close to opening the scoring after just 32 seconds, but his shot only struck the upright. Szalai then handed Hungary the lead in the 62nd minute, before a red card for Aleksandar Dragovic four minutes later made Austria’s task more difficult. In the end, they were caught pushing for an equaliser and Stieber’s delightful chip three minutes from time rounded off the win.

Ronaldo & Co. left frustrated

Elsewhere in Group F, two-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal side were held to a 1-1 draw by minnows Iceland, who are making their debut at European Championship finals.

Basel midfielder Birkir Bjarnason’s strike on 50 minutes in Saint-Étienne cancelled out Nani’s opener, which was the 600th goal in EUROs history. Iceland made a good start against a technically-gifted Portugal side, for whom new Bayern signing Renato Sanches also made an appearance. However, the Nordic outfit showed incredible resilience to claim a shock point, with Ronaldo also missing a good chance to head in the winner with five minutes to go.

created by mmc/mh

Veteran goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and two Bundesliga players brought Austria crashing back down to earth after their sensational EURO 2016 qualifying campaign. The now oldest keeper in European Championship history, plus Hoffenheim’s Adam Szalai and Hamburg’s Zoltan Stieber helped Hungary earn a surprise 2-0 victory over David Alaba & Co. to send them top of Group F.

Bayern star Alaba came close to opening the scoring after just 32 seconds, but his shot only struck the upright. Szalai then handed Hungary the lead in the 62nd minute, before a red card for Aleksandar Dragovic four minutes later made Austria’s task more difficult. In the end, they were caught pushing for an equaliser and Stieber’s delightful chip three minutes from time rounded off the win.

Ronaldo & Co. left frustrated

Elsewhere in Group F, two-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal side were held to a 1-1 draw by minnows Iceland, who are making their debut at European Championship finals.

Basel midfielder Birkir Bjarnason’s strike on 50 minutes in Saint-Étienne cancelled out Nani’s opener, which was the 600th goal in EUROs history. Iceland made a good start against a technically-gifted Portugal side, for whom new Bayern signing Renato Sanches also made an appearance. However, the Nordic outfit showed incredible resilience to claim a shock point, with Ronaldo also missing a good chance to head in the winner with five minutes to go.