Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates are willing to put their disappointing Euro 2016 opener behind them as they prepare to go head to head with Austria, whose back are against the wall following a surprise 2-0 loss to Hungary.

Poor Portugal

Fernando Santos’ men were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw on Tuesday as European Championship debutants Iceland rose above the occasion to put Portugal’s ambitions to a halt. Three-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence was not enough for Portugal to dispatch the tiny Nordic nation as Iceland recorded a historic point in their first-ever appearance at a major international tournament. Santos’ side opened the scorings just after half-hour mark when Nani latched on an Andre Gomes’ ball to give Portugal a lead they thought would be enough for a win. Portuguese charges started the second half the same way they ended the first with Cristiano Ronaldo testing Halldorsson with a half volley, but it wasn’t long before Iceland took the matters into their own hands. Group favourites Portugal now have to raise the bar and improve significantly in order to claim a much needed win that would get them back in the running for the place in the knockouts.

Fernando Santos is unlikely to change his line-up despite the frustrating result at the start of the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo will once again lead the line and Real Madrid forward will be under great pressure to go out and steer his team towards first points at Euro 2016.

Austria on their knees

Austrian team has been considered potential dark horses before the European Championship finals, and their opening loss to Hungary came as a great surprise. Hungarians rewrote history with their first Euro win since 1964 and their first goal since 1972 leaving the star-studded Austrian team in shatters. With Austria boasting star names such as Bayern Munich’s David Alaba and Premier League’s Marko Arnautovic among others, they were expected to record a clear-cut victory in their first Euro 2016 games. Despite somewhat more dominant performance, Austria suffered a disappointing defeat in a match they ended with ten men on the pitch and will now be under great pressure to win. Thing would have been much different if Alaba’s 28^th-second shot had met the net instead of the post and Austria now know just what needs to be done in order to keep their hopes alive.Another loss could effectively rule them out of the competition and stakes are just too high for the forthcoming game.

Aleksandar Dragovic was sent off for his second bookable offense and will not be able to help his team against Portugal. No other changes to the starting line-up are expected.

Verdict

Both Portugal and Austria are facing the prospect of early elimination from the Euro 2016 and win is imperative for both sides. Portugal are aware of the challenge as Austria are boasting a team filled with highly talented individuals so we should be in for a highly exciting match.

Top pick: Both teams to score – yes   2.05 (21/20) @Betfair

Alternative pick 1: Arnautovic to score anytime   6.00 (5/1) @Bet365

Alternative pick 2: Ronaldo to score anytime   2.02 (42/41) @888sport