Euro 2016 daily five: Cristiano Ronaldo finally arrives; lessons from the group stages; Iceland playing hot

With Day 13 of Euro 2016 in the books, we have collated some of the best of our content from the last 24 hours in one place. All the latests news, plus group guides, kick-off times and news from around the teams can be found at our special microsite.

Welcome to the party, Ronaldo

The stats made for grim reading for the tournament’s best player. In the first two group games against Iceland and Austria, Cristiano Ronaldo had registered 20 shots, scored no goals, and missed one penalty. Both matches ended in draws, leaving Portugal’s hopes of progressing from Group F dependent on the result against Hungary. Three times Portugal trailed, three times they clawed their way back into the match, with Ronaldo responsible for the second two goals, while Nani scored the first.

It was the most thrilling encounter of the tournament, and it was Ronaldo who took centre stage when his team needed him most. Portugal move into the last 16 having qualified third from the group, and if they are to advance any further, they will need their captain to continue in this form.

As Richard Jolly wrote in his post match analysis, Cristiano Ronaldo: Tactless, relentless, antihero and hero, and ever more historic

Stick or twist?

The reason for a 23-man squad is for a manager to be able to call on his resources and rotate when necessary, be it for tactical or fitness reasons. Yet, as the group stage comes to a close, it seems managers of the so-called elite nations have not had much success in that department.

Roy Hodgson has received criticism for making six changes for England’s goalless draw with Slovakia that saw his side surrender top spot in Group B to rivals Wales. Likewise, France manager Didier Deschamps, who benched his two best players in Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann for their second match against Albania only to throw them on in search of a win. Deschamps also made numerous changes for France’s final group game against Switzerland, which ended in a dour 0-0. Spain’s Vicente del Bosque also fell victim to squad rotation as the defending champions succumbed to their first European Championship defeat in 14 games to Croatia.

Ian Hawkey examines this ineffective use of squads and explains why trying to find a best XI is not that straightforward.

Marseille deserves more credit

Most would agree that in football terms, Euro 2016 has been a joy to watch. However, the action on the pitch has been tarnished by various incidents of hooliganism and crowd trouble. No host city has been more affected by this than Marseille, the location of the worst troubles between Russia and England fans before, during, and after their Group B contest. It has been described as a “war zone” in the media and a picture has been painted that is unflattering to Marseille.

In his latest diary entry from Euro 2016, Andy Mitten was in Marseille for the day and explains how the image portrayed is far from the truth, and how Marseille has, in fact, been a very welcoming host.

Takeaways from the group stage

The group stage is now over. There have been great games, boring games, drama, magic, and some fairytale moments. Now it is down to business as Euro 2016 enters the last-16 knockout stage.

Steve Luckings offers his thoughts on the group stage, including the growing popularity of Northern Ireland's Will Grigg, or more specifically, his song, the expansion to 24 teams, and why England have more reason for optimism than many may think.

Iceland playing hot

In his daily Euro 2016 talking points, Greg Lea writes this was not supposed to happen. Iceland's qualification for Euro 2016 was an unbelievable achievement in itself, but making it beyond the group stage looked like being a step too far. In fact, a country that is home to around 330,000 people has reached the last 16 with a win and two draws, with Portugal, Hungary and Austria all unable to inflict defeat upon the tournament debutants.

This victory featured all of the qualities that characterised Iceland throughout their qualifying campaign and at the Euros so far: togetherness, discipline, endeavour, organisation and spirit.

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