Group F:
Group F is the
last but not the least of this competition, even if because it includes one of
the top 5 FIFA National
Teams: Portugal.
Since Euro2000 Portugal has been a constant presence in the final stage of the event, finishing in third twice, and losing the final match in 2004. In the qualifiers Portugal looked solid but their productivity left something to be desired as they only scored 11 goals in 8 matches. In this period they managed to change the National Coach with Mr. Paulo Bento (which had been in charge since: 2011) resigning and Mr. Fernando Santos coming to take control of the situation in 2014.
Since Euro2000 Portugal has been a constant presence in the final stage of the event, finishing in third twice, and losing the final match in 2004. In the qualifiers Portugal looked solid but their productivity left something to be desired as they only scored 11 goals in 8 matches. In this period they managed to change the National Coach with Mr. Paulo Bento (which had been in charge since: 2011) resigning and Mr. Fernando Santos coming to take control of the situation in 2014.
Coach: Fernando Santos
Also, Portugal team is divided between some old
world-class veterans, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, or Nani, and young new
players which are starving to have an opportunity to show their talent to the
world, such as Renato Sanchez, Bernardo Silva or João Mario. Nevertheless
Portugal is considered the favorite team of the group and everyone is expecting
them to succeed further in the competition.
Last Selection:
Goal Keeper: Rui Patricio / Eduardo / Anthony Lopes
Full-backs: Bruno Alves / Pepe / Fabio Coentrão / Vieirinha /
Eliseu / José Fonte / Cedric / Ricardo Carvalho
Midfieldes:
Renato Sanches / André Gomes / João Moutinho / Rafa / Adrien Silva / João Mario
/ William Carvalho / Danilo Pereira
Strikers: Danny / Nani / Ricardo Quaresma / Bernardo Silva
/ Cristiano Ronaldo (C) / Éder
Iceland: Even not being one of the favorites, they have done remarkably well and finally
qualified for the finals of a big event. Even considering the National team has
a lack of experience at the big stage and no real world class player, they did
a convincing qualifiers season in a difficult group, so we are looking forward
to see what they can do from now on.
Coach: Lars Lagerbäck & Heimir Hallgrímsson
Last Selection:
- Full-backs: Birkir Már Sævarsson / Ragnar
Sigurðsson / Kári Árnason / Ari
Freyr Skúlason / Haukur Heiðar Hauksson / Sverrir
Ingi Ingason / Hörður Björgvin Magnússon
- Midfieldes: Aron Gunnarsson (C) / Emil Hallfreðsson / Birkir
Bjarnason / Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson / Gylfi
Þór Sigurðsson / Ólafur Ingi Skúlason / Theódór
Elmar Bjarnason
- Strikers: Kolbeinn Sigþórsson / Alfreð
Finnbogason / Jón Daði Böðvarsson / Viðar
Örn Kjartansson
Austria: In the qualifiers, Austria just lost 1 of the
10 games and their present in this final stage of the competition is more than
fair, however it is the first championship for which Austria had actually
qualified since 1998. Players like Alaba or Arnautovic
and well-known names in the European Football and their Swiss coach Marcel Koller has also
shown his experience.
Coach: Marcel Koller
Last Selection:
- Goal Keeper: Robert Almer / Heinz
Lindner / Ramazan Özcan
- Full-backs: Christian Fuchs (C) / Sebastian Prödl / Aleksandar
Dragović / György Garics / Florian
Klein / Markus Suttner / Martin Hinteregger
- Midfieldes: Zlatko Junuzović / David
Alaba / Julian Baumgartlinger / Jakob
Jantscher / Stefan Ilsanker / Guido
Burgstaller
- Strikers: Martin Harnik / Marc
Janko / Marko Arnautović / Rubin
Okotie / Lukas Hinterseer
Hungary: remains the biggest outsider at Euro 2016, beating
Norway in the playoff match. This is the first finals Hungary is since 1986 and
they do not have any real star player, making them the weakest team in the
group. However is not uncommon to see an underdog team to surprise everyone and
succeed further in these kind of competitions, it would be Hungary this time?!
Coach: Bernd Storck
Last Selection:
- Goal Keeper: Gábor Király / Ádám
Bogdán / Dénes Dibusz
- Full-backs: Roland
Juhász / Tamás Kádár / Mihály
Korhut / Richárd Guzmics / Attila
Fiola / Ádám Lang
- Midfieldes: Zoltán
Gera / Balázs Dzsudzsák (C) / Ákos Elek / Ádám
Pintér / Zoltán Stieber / Ádám
Gyurcsó / László Kleinheisler
- Strikers: Tamás Priskin / Ádám
Szalai / Krisztián Németh / Nemanja
Nikolić / Dániel Böde
Player to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo
Considered one of the world’s
best players in the world, with 3 FIFA Ballon D’Oro Awards, he is the Portuguese player with most internationalization and the top scorer in the National Team, with 63 goals.
It is proved that Ronaldo alone can make the difference, either in in club
(Real Madrid FC) and in the National Team. The most recent example of it was in
2013 in the playoff match against Sweden to qualify for the World Cup 2014, where
Cristiano scored an Hat-Trick and lead the team to the final stage of the
competition.
