- Title: Euro 2016 - Group F Profile
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: BRAGA, PORTUGAL (FILE - OCTOBER 7, 2015) (REUTERS) RONALDO RUNNING WITH BALL ATLETICO MADRID MIDFIELDER, TIAGO TRAINING MOUTINHO TRAINING TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS FENERBAHCE WINGER, NANI TRAINING YEREVAN, ARMENIA (FILE - JUNE 12, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RONALDO TRAINING WITH TEAM MATES TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS RONALDO AND NANI ON TRAINING PITCH / RONALDO ON PITCH REAL MADRID DEFENDER, PEPE JOGGING BELGRADE, SERBIA (FILE - OCTOBER 10, 2015) (REUTERS) PLAYERS WARMING UP WITH BALL NANI WARMING UP WITH TEAM MATES SANTOS WALKING ON PITCH SEIXAL, PORTUGAL (FILE - APRIL 12, 2016) (REUTERS) BAYERN MUNICH'S LATEST SIGNING, MIDFIELDER RENATO SANCHES (BLACK HAT) AT A BENFICA TRAINING SESSION AUSTRIA VIENNA, AUSTRIA (FILE - NOVEMBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) PLAYERS COMING OUT ONTO THE PITCH AUSTRIA SIGN TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF LEICESTER CITY DEFENDER, CHRISTIAN FUCHS AT TRAINING SESSION TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF PLAYERS JOGGING PLAYERS ON PITCH AUSTRIA COACH, MARCEL KOLLER (DARK GREY TRACKSUIT) WATCHING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING MUNICH, GERMANY (FILE - SEPTEMBER 5, 2013) (REUTERS) AUSTRIA TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS BAYERN MUNICH DEFENDER, DAVID ALABA AT TRAINING SESSION VARIOUS OF ALABA JOGGING WITH TEAM MATES ICELAND KONYA, TURKEY (FILE - OCTOBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ICELAND PLAYERS ON TRAINING PITCH PLAYER KICKING BALL VARIOUS OF ICELAND PLAYERS TRAINING ON PITCH PLAYERS WARMING UP VARIOUS OF ICELAND TEAM STANDING IN A HUDDLE PLAYERS WARMING UP ICELAND HEAD COACHES, LARS LAGERBACK (RIGHT) AND HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON (FAR LEFT) TALKING WITH ASSISTANT COACH VARIOUS OF TEAM TRAINING ON PITCH HALLGRIMSSON AND ICELAND CAPTAIN AND CARDIFF CITY MIDFIELDER, ARON GUNNARSSON BEING SEATED AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTER AT NEWS CONFERENCE GUNNARSSON SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 09:02
- Keywords: Euro 2016 Group F Portugal Austria Iceland Hungary
- Location: BRAGA, LISBON AND SEIXAL, PORTUGAL / YEREVAN, ARMENIA / BELGRADE, SERBIA / VIENNA, AUSTRIA / MUNICH, GERMANY / KONYA, TURKEY / BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
- City: BRAGA, LISBON AND SEIXAL, PORTUGAL / YEREVAN, ARMENIA / BELGRADE, SERBIA / VIENNA, AUSTRIA / MUNICH, GERMANY / KONYA, TURKEY / BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
- Country: Various
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0034JC3RY7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PORTUGAL
They may be over dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo and struggling to replace old faithfuls, yet under the wily leadership of Fernando Santos, Portugal can still be a threat.
Semi-finalists four years ago, Portugal suffered a miserable first-round exit at the World Cup in 2014 and followed that up by losing at home to Albania in their opening qualifier for Euro 2016.
Tempestuous coach Paulo Bento, who had steadfastly refused to replace Portugal's old guard, was sacked and replaced by Fernando Santos, who made an instant impact as Portugal reeled off seven successive wins in the Euro qualifiers, all by single-goal margins, to steer themselves safely to France.
Santos has found the rebuilding process as difficult as his predecessor and has also relied heavily on more experienced players, even recalling veteran central defender Ricardo Carvalho, who will be 38 when the competition gets underway in France.
At least there has been a willingness to give the new generation a chance.
More than 50 players have been called up under Santos who has given 17 their full international debuts and fielded 33 players in the qualifiers.
His boldness to experiment has paid off, unveiling highly promising players such as winger Bernardo Silva and midfielders William Carvalho and Joao Mario.
Possibly the most exciting of all is 18-year-old Renato Sanches, who has just signed for Bayern Munich from Benfica months after making his professional debut.
Portugal's biggest failure is their inability to convert chances into goals with former Manchester United winger Nani, who remains a regular at international level, one of the main culprits.
In the end, however, everything still revolves around Ronaldo, who is often criticised for failing to reproduce his best form for Portugal even though he is their all-time leading scorer.
AUSTRIA
When UEFA decided to expand the European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams, Austria were seen as one of the teams most likely to benefit.
By no means among Europe's weakest teams, Austria were never quite good enough to make the final 16 and their only appearance in the finals came in 2008 when they co-hosted the event.
Such has been Austria's improvement that they would have qualified for France had it been a 16, or even eight-team, tournament.
After drawing at home to Sweden in their opening game, Austria stormed through their qualifiers as they won all their remaining games, beating Russia at home and away and thrashing Sweden 4-1 to clinch their place in style.
Coach Marcel Koller, given a lukewarm reception when he was appointed in 2011, has received most of the credit for lifting Austria from 70th in the world rankings to just outside the top 10.
Koller has given the team a new tactical identity and has also proved a master at getting the most out of his players, including temperamental forward Marko Arnautovic.
He has also brought remarkable stability, fielding an unchanged starting line-up in the last six qualifiers.
The turnaround had been in the making even before the low-profile Swiss, whose last club job ended with him being ignominiously sacked by German club VfL Bochum, took over.
The Austrian federation had already implemented a new youth development programme and, like neighbouring Switzerland, begun to tap into the country's large pool of immigrant talent, something they had previously failed to do.
Most of the players are based in the Bundesliga or English Premier League, giving Austria plenty of top-level experience despite their past failures to qualify for top tournaments.
With versatile Bayern Munich player David Alaba pulling the strings in midfield, the final 16 is the minimum they will be aiming at and there is a good chance they could go further.
ICELAND
Having qualified for the finals of a major tournament for the first time, Group F hopefuls Iceland will not be content to make up the numbers at the European Championship and sides who underestimate them could be in for a nasty surprise.
The tiny island nation of around 330,000 inhabitants dominated their Euro 2016 qualifying group for much of the campaign, turning their home ground Laugardalsvollur in Reykjavik into a fortress.
They hammered Turkey 3-0 in their opening fixture there, following up with victories over the Czech Republic and Netherlands.
Another win over the Dutch followed in Amsterdam, a result that caused the footballing world to take them seriously as a possible group winner.
It was not to be but their second place behind the Czechs has been rewarded in France with group games against Portugal, Hungary and Austria.
By now, Iceland fear no-one.
While many sides would be loath to meet Portugal and Austria, Iceland will be happy to concede possession for long periods with a view to hitting decisively on the break.
Iceland's recent success is no flash in the pan. For many years the football association has invested in coaching and facilities to enable young players to practise skills all year round.
Iceland are compact, disciplined and aggressive in defence, launching lightning-fast counter-attacks when they win the ball.
Despite the Cinderella nature of their qualification, they are physically tough and not adverse to a cynical foul.
At the helm is wily Swedish coach Lars Lagerback, who will step down at the end of the finals. His players are spread throughout Scandinavia and the lower reaches of some of Europe's top leagues. Despite the small talent pool, there is plenty of competition for places.
One certain starter if fit is Swansea's attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who will be the side's fulcrum in France.
There is also room for record goalscorer Eidur Gudjohnsen in the squad. Helping to track a way out of a tough group could provide a fairytale ending to the 37-year-old's international career.
HUNGARY
History always hangs heavy on the Hungarian national team, whose decades of under-achievement are contrasted with the sepia glory of the 1950s when glittering talents such as Ferenc Puskas and Jeno Buzanszky reshaped football's landscape.
Whatever else Bernd Storck's team achieve -- and nobody expects very much -- they at least have the opportunity to bring the story up to date when they rejoin football's elite in France.
Hungary have not appeared in a major tournament since the 1986 World Cup and their last European Championship appearance was in 1972. So just being there in 2016 ranks as a major achievement for a team who finished only third in their group, eventually qualifying via a 2-1 aggregate play-off win over Norway.
Their campaign was troubled, with one coach sacked and another leaving for club football in Germany before Storck delivered unexpected qualification on an unforgettable night in Budapest.
The qualifiers had begun in the worst possible way with a 2-1 defeat to Northern Ireland, a result that led to Attila Pinter being replaced by Pal Dardai, who started the difficult job of rebuilding a team short on confidence and cohesion.
Dardai soon departed for Hertha Berlin, leaving Storck, the former head coach of Kazakhstan, to introduce young blood and dare his team to come good with a more attacking style.
Among some surprising calls was his decision to play Laszlo Kleinheisler in the first game against Norway despite the midfielder not having played for his club all season after refusing to sign a contract extension.
The 22-year-old rewarded Storck's faith with a man-of-the-match performance that was followed by a move to Werder Bremen. Kleinheisler is tipped to catch the eye in France, not least for his red hair which has led to the nickname Scholes. The midfielder also shares former Manchester United player Paul Scholes's eye for a goal.
At the other end of the age range is former Crystal Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly, who turned 40 in April and is hoping to eclipse German Lothar Matthaeus as the oldest player to appear in the tournament finals.
Where Hungary may struggle is up front after managing just 11 goals in 10 qualifiers but the group draw in France has been kind to them and, Portugal apart, they will look to games against Austria and tournament debutants Iceland as offering the chance to sneak a result. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None