Low scoring opening round does not detract from fine spectacle: Euro 2016 talking points

Every match day during Euro 2016, Greg Lea will break down every match and its key moments. Here is his analysis of Day 5 of the tournament.

Hungary midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler is Greg Lea's Euro 2016 Player of the Day for his impressive showing against Austria. Nicolas Tucat / AFP

Every match day during Euro 2016, The National's Premier League correspondent Greg Lea will break down every match and its key moments. Here is his analysis of Day 5 of the tournament.

Portugal 1-1 Iceland: United underdogs cause upset

The smallest country to ever take part in a European Championship remain unbeaten. A spirited performance earned Iceland an unlikely draw against Portugal, who were left to rue multiple missed opportunities and two points dropped.

Fernando Santos’ men started strongly, with Iceland pinned back inside their own half for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. Portugal circulated the ball quickly and accurately, unsettling their opponents’ defensive unit with their sharp movement and crisp distribution.

Nani edged them into a well-deserved lead after a fine team move down the right flank after half an hour, and it was difficult to see a way back for Iceland at the break.

Birkir Bjarnason took full advantage of a defensive mishap early in the second period to get his side back on level terms, however, and Iceland grew into the game thereafter.

Portugal still fashioned more than enough chances to win the game, but it was difficult to begrudge Iceland a memorable point in the first ever Euros encounter.

More from Euro 2016:

• Andy Mitten's Euro 2016 diary: Price of football is not cheap ... especially if you miss a goal

• Richard Jolly analysis: Ronaldo cuts a frustrated figure as Iceland battle back to draw with Portugal

• Ian Hawkey on Paul Pogba: Like Platini and Zidane before him, a Juventus man expected to deliver success for France

Austria 0-2 Hungary: A surprising but fully deserved result

Hungary’s defeat of Austria was arguably an even bigger shock, particularly as the scoreline perfectly reflected Bernd Storck’s men’s dominance.

Hungary were neat and tidy in possession, moving the ball well in the opening stages and successfully nullifying the threat of David Alaba, the Bayern Munich left-back who plays in the centre of midfield for Austria.

Zoltan Gera, Adam Nagy and Laszlo Kleinheiser were all superb in Hungary’s engine room, while Adam Szalai worked hard up top, and centre-backs Richard Guzmics and Adam Lang, along with veteran goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, did a fine job of keeping Austria out at the other end.

There was plenty of commitment and togetherness in Hungary’s showing, but noting such attributes should not preclude them from receiving praise for their technical quality, well-executed approach and astute game management.

A low-scoring but enjoyable start.

Opening round takeaway

Every team has now played once at Euro 2016, and it is probably even more difficult to pick a winner now than it was before the big kick-off last Friday.

There have been strong performances from the likes of Croatia, Wales, Spain, Poland, Italy and Hungary, while Germany, Portugal, England and France showed in flashes why they have all been backed to claim the trophy this summer.

Question marks remain about every side in the competition, though, and no country has yet delivered a display to convince that they are the overwhelming favourites.

Judging teams’ credentials will become easier once the convoluted group stage has been completed, so the main takeaway at this point relates to the relatively low goal-per-game ratio in the opening 12 matches.

There have been just 22 goals scored so far in France, an average of 1.83 per match; that is rather few compared to the first round of fixtures at previous European Championships this century, with 2.5 in 2012, 2 in 2008, 2.13 in 2004 and 3 in 2000.

Although goals are frequently equated to entertainment, the low-scoring nature of Euro 2016 has not made it any less enjoyable.

In fact, even and closely-fought contests — there have been only three wins by more than a single-goal margin, and all of those (Germany 2-0 Ukraine, Belgium 0-2 Italy and Austria 0-2 Hungary) featured goals in the last five minutes — are preferable to 5-1 and 4-0 thrashings, particularly as many feared that some of the smaller nations would be shown to be wildly out of their depth in their initial encounters.

Northern Ireland were extremely defensive against Poland, the Republic of Ireland sat back a little too much after going ahead against Sweden and Russia did not show a great deal of ambition in their draw with England, but four of the biggest underdogs — Romania, Albania, Hungary and Iceland — were competitive in their clashes with France, Switzerland, Austria and Portugal.

There has not yet been a rush of goals, but in this particular case that might not be a negative thing at all.

Player of the day — Laszlo Kleinheisler

Kleinheisler was terrific throughout Hungary’s victory, the Werder Bremen midfielder continually positioning himself to receive the ball and making good use of it when it arrived.

Goal of the day

Portugal’s opener was excellent and Zoltan Stieber’s impudent dink was one of the finishes of the competition to date, but the combination play between Kleinheisler and Szalai for the latter’s strike against Austria stood out. The final touch was scruffy but the build-up was brilliant, and the fact that this was Szalai’s first goal in 39 appearances for club and country made it even sweeter.

Moment of the day

The Icelandic celebrations at the final whistle were fantastic to watch after a hard-earned point in the nation’s first ever match at a major tournament.

Howler of the day

Portugal right-back Vieirinha is a winger by trade, something he demonstrated by completely switching off and allowing Bjarnason time and space in the box to equalise for Iceland.

Statistic of the day

Around eight per cent of Iceland’s population was in Saint-Etienne for their side’s Group F game with Portugal.

Thing to look forward to

France take on Albania on Wednesday, which means another chance to watch the wonderful Dimitri Payet in action.

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