Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will kick off their Euro 2016 campaign against the tournament newcomers Iceland in Group F clash at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Tuesday, 14th June 2016.
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Ronaldo and his team mate will look forward to big bang win in this game as they deem themselves lucky to play the group’s underdogs in their first game, Portugal will be hoping to get their hands on their first major title this summer.
Meanwhile Iceland will be looking to freeze out Ronaldo and his team mates in the game as they are playing in the competition for the first time in their entire history, they are hoping to give the world a shock and grab a surprise victory or at least a draw in this game.
Form Comparison
Portugal lost to England in a friendly game before smashing Estonia 7-0 on Wednesday, their last 5 games have seen 2 loses and 3 wins. They have failed to score in the two loses and have scored at least 2 goals in the 3 victories.
Iceland are on an average rating, they have lost 3 of their last 5 games and won 2 which includes their 4-0 win against Lichtenstein, they have scored in every of their last 5 games.
Portugal: Team news
Portugal Fernando Santos has the luxury of a fully fit squad at his disposal. Nani and Eder are certain to start in the attack for Portugal is Santos sticks with his preferred 4-3-3 formation. Ricardo Quaresma is an option if he decides to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The Portuguese central defense pairing of Pepe and Bruno Alves, who has 156 caps between them is one one of the most experienced in the tournament.
Portugal: Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)
Patricio – Vieirinha, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Eliseu – Moutinho, Pereira, A. Silva – Nani, Eder, Ronaldo.
Iceland: Team news
The head coach Lars Lagerback will be leaving his post after the Competition and he will be replaced by assistant Heimir Hallgrimsson, while Eidur Gudjohnsen will participate in competition football for his nation for the first and last time as he is considering retirement.
Iceland: Predicted Line-up (4-4-2)
Haldorsson – Saevarsson, R. Sigurdsson, Ingason, Skulason – Gunnarsson, Gudmundsson, Bjarnason, G. Sigurdsson – Sigborsson, Finnbogason.
Portugal vs Iceland: Head to Head
The two teams have met just twice during 2012 Euro qualification in 2010 and 2011, which the two games ended in a 5-3 win and 3-1 win for Portugal.
Portugal vs Iceland: Prediction
Portugal are huge favourites in this game, with the qualities in their team which includes one of the world best players Ronaldo but they have shown they are not immune to surprise defeats in recent years as they have lost to Albania, Bulgaria and Cape Verde Islands while Iceland have shown they can scrape a victory from big teams as they beat Netherlands home and away during the qualifiers.
Portugal has all it takes to win but Iceland can equally grab a narrow win in this one. My main point of interest is in CR7, I think he’ll do his best to get his team going with a win in the first fixture of the tournament.
