Portugal suffered their second successive stalemate in the European Championship after playing out a 0-0 draw against a struggling Austria side at the Parc des Princes this morning.
Fernando Santos left Danilo Pereira and Joao Mario out of the squad and went with William Carvalho and Ricardo Quaresma instead, whereas Marcel Koller made three changes from his side’s defeat to Hungary by fielding Sebastian Prodl, Stefan Ilsanker and Marcel Sabitzer.
The Selecao dominated a major portion of the encounter and attempted 18 shots at Robert Almer’s goal, but only six of them managed to hit the target. They came close several times through the likes of Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and Andre Gomes but were unfortunate in breaking the deadlock for their country. All-time Real Madrid and Portugal top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo came the closest after he became the first player to miss a penalty in the tournament. He managed to head the ball at the back of the net but was ruled offside.
Hungary are surprisingly top of Group F with four points after defeating Austria in the first game and drawing 1-1 with Iceland earlier tonight, with Portugal and Iceland tied in second and third place (two points) and dark horses Austria are in last place with only a point. Cristiano Ronaldo and co. must grab a win against Hungary to ensure a top-spot finish.
Here are three players that performed the best in Paris tonight:
Robert Almer
The Austria Wien goalkeeper was in sublime form to deny Portugal a goal throughout the entire 90 minutes as he made six important saves. The 32 year-old did well to deny Cristiano Ronaldo a number of times and also made a vital save from a Vieirinha effort.
Julian Baumgartlinger
The hard-working midfielder, who was recently signed by Bayer Leverkusen when the season ended last month, played a key role in the middle of the park for Austria to break down a number of Portugal attacks. He stepped up his game because David Alaba was ineffective after being deployed as an attacking midfielder. He made four important tackles as well.
Vieirinha
The Portugal wing-back was the only source of inspiration from Fernando Santos’ side as he burst down the flank several times to offer width and support to Nani and Ricardo Quaresma. The 30 year-old had one of the best chances of the game but his effort from distance was comfortably parried away by man of the match Robert Almer, who was outstanding in goal. He also made an important goal-line clearance after David Alaba whipped in a free-kick.
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