Portugal plays Iceland in a Group ‘H’ match of the Euro 2016 at St. Ettiene on Tuesday night.
Portuguese striker Ricardo Quaresma may sit out the match due to a muscle problem leaving Ronaldo and Nani to start upfront.
Iceland has Aron Gunnarsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson back into their squad after overcoming injuries.
Apart from having a star-studded side Portugal are firm favourites to pick all three points on Tuesday night given their experience at this level. With six semi-final appearances in the competition, the Portuguese are tipped to go far and starting well will help them do just that.
The Portuguese will, however, be weary of the fact they have always struggled in the tournament’s opening matches. They have won only two of their last six opening matches in the competition in 2000 and 2008.
Iceland is making their derby in the Euro Cup but this does not take away their ability to cause ripples. They upset Netherlands twice during the qualifying stages of this year’s competition and could prove stubborn against Portugal.
Austria and Hungary clash in the other Group ‘F’ fixture on Tuesday night. Austria is firm favourites going into this match when you look at their outstanding campaign in the qualifiers.
The team finished on top of their qualifying group with eight points more than the second-placed side and were unbeaten all through.
Austria’s performance has been inspired by Coach Marcel Koller who has known how to bring out the best in his players. Hungary has little chance of making it out of group ‘F’ given their recent results.
