itsbeautifuloutside

14th June - (Bordeaux) 5pm

Austria 0

• Dragovic - Sent Off 66'

Hungary 2

• Szalai 62'
• Stieber 87'

Referee : Clément Turpin

Attendance : 34,424

Match Report

IBO Reporter : channonite

This was a wonderful throwback to past glories for the once all powerful Hungarians. It was the first time that they had appeared in either European Championships, or World Cup, since 1986. A genuine shock then, even though the Austrians were rightly reduced to 10 men for the last 25 minutes and were made to look very second best.

Austria almost scored from the kickoff, but Alaba hit the Hungarian upright instead.

Instead of being discouraged by this, the Hungarians dug in and through superior teamwork managed to frustrate the men in red. Although the Austrian build up looked slick and effective, but they looked completely clueless in front of goal.

The Hungarian goalkeeper became the oldest player to appear in the European Championships and looked the part wearing a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms. This gave the (false) impression he was not taking the game altogether seriously. In truth he had little to do, so ineffective were the Austrians that they only had three shots on target during the entire game.

At half time it was goalless, but you wondered if the Austrians would put it all together in the last 45 minutes, but in reality the Hungarians were starting to get more adventurous. About twenty minutes into the second half Szalai prodded home to make it 1-0 and the Austrians began to loose what cohesion they had.

Shortly after the goal the Austrian full back, Dragovic committed a silly foul, for which he was yellow carded. As he had already been booked, it was immediately followed by a red.

Down to ten men and one goal behind, they decided to go for it, but as the minutes ticked by, they started to get tired and more and more gaps began to appear at the back.

Hungary were now breaking almost at will and eventually the second Hungarian goal duly came. Just three minutes before the end of normal time an Austrian attack broke down and an outnumbered defence found themselves back-pedalling in the face of a pack of marauding Hungarian forwards. The sweeping move was finished off by Stieber, who had only come onto the pitch eight minutes before and coolly lifted the ball over the Austrian keeper into the net. 2-0 and game over.

With the Portugal v Iceland game to follow later in the evening, Hungary have put themselves in a strong position to advance to the last 16. Austria though, have it all to do.

14th June - (Saint-Etienne) 8pm

Portugal 1

• Nani, 31'

Iceland 1

• Bjarnason, 50'

Referee : Cüneyt Çakir

Attendance : 38,742

Match Report

IBO Reporter : channonite

Games like this make you believe in the story of the Huldufólk, mysterious residents of Iceland. It seems that New Year's Eve, Twelfth Night, Midsummer, Christmas night, or the European Championships seem to bring the huldufólk out of hiding. There are tales of elves holding parties or humans hosting bonfires for them. It is also an Icelandic custom to clean the house and leave food for the huldufólk at Christmas. Midsummer night also brings the chance to sit at a crossroads and have the huldufólk offer you great gifts - but the real rewards come from refusing them, or so the stories say.

It seems that Midsummer night came just a few days early as the real minnows of the competition (Iceland, population 332,529) crowned their first appearance in any major tournament, by holding the might of Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo’s extravagant ego and all, to a 1-1 draw. Yes, the Icelanders managed to score a goal. A peach of a strike from their No.8, Bjarnason.

It could have been worse for Portugal, when Swansea’s own Gylfi Sigurdsson drew a fantastic double save from Patricio in the Portuguese goal early in the game.

On the half hour it looked as if the game was going to form, when Nani scored, but in truth the Portuguese never really looked convincing and that was credit to the persistence of the Icelandic hoardes (well, eleven of them plus substitutes). The Icelandic goalkeeper seemed at times to be in almost constant action, certainly during a frantic first half.

The match stats were ridiculous, with possession being 72%/28% in favour of Portugal. Shots on target were 26/4. Shots on target 9/4 and corners 11/2. Yet the one stat that really mattered was 1-1.

Oh yes, none of the Portuguese under-performance was Saints José Fonte’s fault. He was an unused substitute.

Portugal will undoubtably go further in the competition than Iceland, but the direct descendants of the Viking settlers have given themselves a reasonable chance of progressing to the last 16.

18th June - (Marseille) 5pm

Iceland 1

• Sigurdsson, 39'

Hungary 1

• Saevarsson, 87'

Referee : Sergey Karasev

Attendance : 60,842

Match Report

IBO Reporter : channonite

Damn. Close, but not quite.

I have got so caught up in this Iceland thing, you know, the statistics like 10% of the population of the country are in France following the team. That is 30 thousand people. If England were to have 10% of the population following the team, that would be some 5.4 million people. The Russians wouldn’t pick a fight with the English then! The other stat I love, is that if you are Icelandic and male, you have something like a 1 in 2000 chance of being picked to play for the football team.

So, to say that they have overachieved is just a bit of an understatement. I was rooting for them tonight and for the majority of the game things were going swimmingly well. Until the 87th minute, when Birkir Saevarsson turned a Hungarian cross into his own net.

In spite of Ronaldo (bloody spoilt brat) whinging about Iceland only defending after the Portugal v Iceland game, they are doing what they are good at and making the most of the few chances that they get. One of those chances came along just before halftime when the Hungarian goalkeeper, Gabor Kiraly, wearing his traditional tracksuit bottoms, fumbled a cross and in the ensuing mayhem, Gunnarsson ended up sprawling on the ground in the penalty area. The referee judged that he had been fouled by Kadar and pointed to the spot. Swansea’s Gyfli Sigurdsson stepped up and sent Kiraly the wrong way. 1-0.

For the rest of the match Iceland were defending, but in spite of Hungary having 71% possession, they just could not find a way through. Well, not until the fateful own goal.

Dropping two points right at the death will feel like a defeat to the Icelandic team, but the fact remains that they still have a good chance of making the Last16, if they can get a result against Austria in Paris next Wednesday the 22nd June.

I really hope they do it.

18th June - (Paris) 8pm

Portugal 0

Austria 0

Referee : Nicola Rizzoli

Attendance : 44,291

Match Report

IBO Reporter : sotonian

Three of the last 4 games of these two nations have ended in draws. Cristiano Ronaldo became Portugal's most capped player and was looking to be the first player to score in 4 euro championships. Both sides were looking to achieve their first win of this tournament.

In the first 5 minutes, Austria could and should have taken the lead, Harnik missing the target with a header from very close range, thereafter it was all Portugal, Nani and Ronaldo were the main culprits as Portugal missed a succession of chances, any Austria breakaways were soon thwarted by very strong, almost thug like challenges from the two Portuguese centre backs Pepe and Carvarlho, despite many Portugal attempts, the Austrian keeper kept out everything that went on target, but just before halftime Austria nearly scored, only a goal line clearance by Vieirinha kept a free kick from Alaba from going in

Half time Portugal 0 Austria 0

Second Half started and Austria had the first chance, a long range effort from Ilslanka was well saved by the Portugal keeper, after this scare Portugal regained control, Ronaldo struck a 25 yard shot which was well saved, from the resulting corner Ronaldo had a fierce header well saved by Almer, by now it was a case of just when, rather than if Portugal and particularly Ronaldo would score, a free kick in the centre of the goal was hit over by Ronaldo, then with 10 minutes of the game left Portugal got a penalty, Ronaldo (who else) took up to take it, then amazingly hit the ball against the post, Portugal's big chance of a break through and it wasn't to be, then finally Ronaldo scored with a great header only to find it ruled out for off side, seemed harsh but the replays showed it was the correct decision.

Full time Portugal 0 Austria 0

Portugal should have won this comfortably but the Austrian keeper had the game of his life, both sides will need a win in their final games to be certain of going through to the knock out stages

22nd June - (Saint-Denis) 5pm

Iceland 2

• Bödvarsson 18'
• Traustason 90'+4

Austria 1

• Schöpf 60'

Referee : Szymon Marciniak

Attendance : 68,714

Match Report

IBO Reporter : channonite

Deep, deep into injury time substitute Arnor Ingvi Traustason, who had only come on in the 80th minute, slid in to push the ball past the sprawling figure of the Austrian goalkeeper, to seal a truly popular win for Iceland.

Going into the match, Iceland had survived by defending, defending, defending. That was it really. I know that they scored one goal in each of their previous two matches, but the possession stat was hilarious in each case, 72/28 to Portugal and 71/29 to Hungary. They improved in this match, it was only 69/31 to Austria. In truth they were much more attack minded this time, with Gudmundson even hitting the post at one point, before Bodvarsson shot low into the net from no more than 8 yards out. Austria looked shell shocked.

They had their chances, with a penalty awarded for a blatant pull-back. Dragovic stepped up to take the kick, but only managed to hit the base of the left hand post and the ball bounced harmlessly away.

Austria did manage to equalise in the 60th minute, when Schopf scored after a run into the box and a left footed shot. He should have scored again, but for a last ditch clearance by Halldorsson.

Man of the match, Kari Arnason made crucial stops time and again to deny the Austrian’s a winning goal. The steely resolve of the Icelander’s finally paid off in the fourth minute of extra time when Traustason scored the winning goal.

Plenty to like there and Iceland now progress to play England on Monday. Should be fun.

22nd June - (Lyon) 5pm

Hungary 3

• Gera 19'
• Dzsudzsák 47', 55'

Portugal 3

• Nani 42'
• Ronaldo 50', 62'

Referee : Martin Atkinson

Attendance : 55,514

Match Report

IBO Reporter : Spot51

For the last 3 nights I had written about matches where one side had little interest in winning and we got two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win. Group F however was the exception - all four teams had something to play for – and so we got two cracking matches. Welcome to knockout football!

The nasty weather that plagued the first week of Euro 2016 had relented and Lyon basked in bright sunshine and 30C at kick off. Hungary rested all their booked players and wore red and white. Portugal wore a minty green kit with Eliseu and Joao Mario starting. Martin Atkinson was the ref.

The Portuguese bossed the early minutes winning a corner and playing in Nani who failed to control the ball. CR7 was first fouled in the 5th minute. Moutinho’s cross dropped to Mario who fired over. Hungary then won and wasted a corner before Nani won another. This time Pepe met the cross but Kiraly saved. Portugal had more possession but Hungary broke quickly whenever they recovered it. It was a promising start.

On 15m Guzmics got the first card for bringing down Nani. Moutino’s free kick came towards Ronaldo but he had not bothered to get onside. Portugal won a couple more corners before Moutinho set up Gomes who scuffed his shot.

A quick break upfield saw Pepe concede a corner. Dzsudzsak was on spot kick duties and his corner was knocked out to the edge of the box where Nani’s limp header dropped to Gera. He hit the ball low and hard past Patricio into the bottom corner: 1-0 Hungary. At the same time news arrived that Iceland had also scored, pushing Portugal down to 3rd.

On 23m Portugal won a free kick. Despite the distance from goal, Ronaldo shot. A nick off the wall took away some of the pace and Kiraly was able to gather. Hungary though looked the better side at this stage. Szalai carried the ball down the left. As he turned inside Elek ran beyond him and collected the ball – he looked offside but the flag stayed down and Patricio was required to save his shot.

On 28m Juhasz was booked for a foul. Again Ronaldo took aim and this time his shot avoided the wall and the 40 year old stopper needed to fling himself to his left and tip it round the post. Portugal turned the screw from this corner but the Magyars defended stoutly and eventually cleared their lines.

I’m not a big fan of Pepe but he was having one of his better games, making important interceptions and tackles. He was calmness personified on 33m when a right wing cross came in and, under pressure from Szahai, he neatly headed the ball into his keeper’s gloves. On 35m Gera lost the ball to Gomes and brought him down. He was booked and Ronaldo had another long range effort. This one sailed wide.

News from the capital told of a missed Austrian penalty, so Portugal were still 3rd in the group. Portugal wasted a couple more corners before Pepe again dealt with a difficult cross from Hungary’s right wing. For the second time, the corner kick was cleared towards Gera but this time he put his shot wide.

On 42 minutes Portugal levelled the scores. The ball was rolled to Ronaldo who threaded a long pass through the Hungarian defence. It fell perfectly into Nani’s stride and he turned it past Kiraly: 1-1. Nani might have had another moments later when he met Eliseu’s cross but stuck his header wide.

Both keepers were called into action before the interval. Patricio saved Szalai’s long range effort and Kiraly held onto a Gomes shot from the left. HT 1-1.

Moutinho and Gera didn’t appear after the break. Sanches and Bese replaced them. A few minutes into the half, Szalai was fouled giving Hungary a free kick from about 25 yards out. Up stepped Dzsudzsak and hit a firm shot that took a nick off Gomes in the wall. As Patricio went left, the ball went the other way and bulged the net. 2-1 Hungary.

Hungarian fans thought they were 2 up a minute later. Lovrenscics overlap on the left saw him rattle the netting once more – but this shot had gone the wrong side of the post.

On 50m it was all square. Mario’s neat cross found CR7 in the box and his back-heeled nick beat Kiraly at his far post: 2-2.

The shackles were well and truly off as both sides went in search of a 3rd goal. First Mario delivered another good cross from the right but Nani was unable to reach it. Then the hard-working Szalai was fouled by Carvalho allowing Dzsudzsak another strike from a similar position to the last. This time he hit the wall but recovered the ball. With Portuguese defenders standing off he drifted inside and unleashed another fierce drive. Nani, it would seem, is a danger in both boxes. He stuck out a leg in a half-hearted attempt to block the shot but it flew off his heel into the far corner: 3-2 Hungary. As the Magyars celebrated, CR7 was throwing a not very quiet tantrum upfield.

Sanches was a growing influence in midfield and on 57m he and CR7 combined to set up Mario but his shot was off target. Then CR7 had another pot which was also wide.

On 61m Gomes was replaced by Quaresma who made an immediate impact. Nani was played in down the left but his poor touch allowed Bese to put the ball behind. The corner was played short to Quaresma with time to pick a cross. The one he chose was met by Ronaldo’s leap and the header soared past Kiraly: 3-3 and it was like proper football at last!

In Paris the Austrians had equalised so Portugal were up to second and in line to meet England next. However, in Lyon neither side seemed content with a draw and carried on attacking. Hungary nearly went in front again when Szalai met a left wing cross and fired it against the post with Patricio beaten. Both sides continued to make chances.

On 70m Szalai was withdrawn and Nemeth came on to lead the line. Nani then crossed for Ronaldo but his header went astray. Both sides continued to attack whenever possible – Portugal were dominating possession but Hungary countered whenever they won the ball. For a good 5 minutes in the final quarter of an hour, Portugal dominated the game with Quaresma playing a major role. He and Ronaldo had further shots but neither troubled Kiraly.

In the last 10m Danilo replaced Nani and Stieber came on for Lovrenscics. For the first time in the match, the tempo dropped. Indeed, Hungary actually appeared to be time-wasting and tried to deny Portugal possession. They didn’t stop Ronaldo shooting on sight though – he even tried a 40+ yard free-kick that sailed over the bar.

During the 3 added minutes Dzsudzsak took a free kick in an attacking position. He passed back and the ball ended up with Kiraly. Hungary had settled for a point. They did exactly the same after Lang was fouled too.

There was late drama: in Paris, where Iceland scored a 94th minute winner to lift them above Portugal. Mr Atkinson’s whistle brought our game to an end. You rarely see a dull 3-3 draw and this certainly wasn’t dull.

These results left Hungary top but facing a match with the dangerous Belgians. Second placed Iceland play England in Nice, Portugal qualified as one of the better 3rd placed sides but won’t fancy their match with Croatia who have looked very good. Austria, who many fancied going into Euro 2016, never got going at all.