Ronaldo frustrated as Iceland draw with Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to hide his frustrations as Iceland shocked Portugal with a 1-1 draw.

Iceland midfielder Aron Gunnarsson with Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Saint-Etienne

Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to hide his frustration after Iceland shocked Portugal with a 1-1 draw in the tiny Nordic nation’s European Championship debut.

Iceland were second best for most of the Group F game and trailed to a first-half strike from Nani, but they took advantage of Portugal’s profligacy in front of goal, with Birkir Bjarnason’s goal earning a share of the spoils.

The efforts of the smallest nation to play at a European Championship — its population is just 330,000 — did little to impress Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo.

“Iceland did not try nothing, they just defend, defend, defend and play the counter-attack,” Ronaldo said. “They had two chances and they scored one goal. It was a lucky night for them.”

Iceland managed only four shots to Portugal’s 25, Bjarnason slotting home the equaliser in the 50th minute with a curled volley at the far post against the run of play and moments after Ronaldo missed a chance to make it 2-0 when he shot wide.

“We should have scored more goals, there is no secret about that,” Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos said. “We are to blame for that. Then there was this move. We knew they could play long balls and that they had good crossers. They were very pragmatic.”

Iceland had already defied the odds just to reach the tournament by finishing second in their qualifying group — which included two wins over a highly fancied Netherlands outfit.

Having recently helped Real Madrid win the Champions League in Milan, Ronaldo lacked his usual accuracy in front of goal, miskicking a great chance in the first half with only Hannes Halldorsson to beat and then sending a powerful header straight at the Iceland goalkeeper from close range in the second period.

Even his trademark free kicks came to nothing on a night he’d rather forget in Saint-Etienne.

Meanwhile, Aleksandar Dragovic was partly to blame for Austria’s 2-0 defeat to Hungary in Bordeaux after being shown a red card in the 66th minute in the other Group F match.

At the time, his team was trailing only to Adam Szalai’s opening strike. But Hungary substitute Zoltan Stieber added the second in the 87th minute to seal the win.

The second round of group matches started overnight, with police in northern France braced for possible trouble.

Russia were due to play Slovakia in Lille, while England fans are gathering in nearby Lens for their team’s Group B match the following day against Wales.

AP