Iceland were just minutes away from a historic win on Saturday but they cruelly undone by an 87th minute goal from Birkir Sævarsson. That denied them a first ever victory in a major tournament finals and they had to make do with a draw against current Group F leaders Hungary.
That second consecutive draw for Iceland means they now face a must win tie in their final game against Austria if they are to have any realistic chance of progressing to the Round of 16. If it’s a must win game for Iceland then it’s do or die for their opponents tonight Austria.
Austria were the toast of many neutrals last Saturday night as their dogged resistance against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal rewarded them with a 0-0 draw for their efforts. Luck may have played a huge part but that solitary point means they still have some hope of making it to the knockout stages
They will be hoping that David Alaba finally turns in a match winning performance and it’s fair to say he is running out of time in which to do so. The Bayern Munich star has struck a post in Austria’s opener and seen a free kick hooked off the line against Portugal. Could Tonight be the night that he finally gets off the mark in Euro 2016
Iceland have been impressive in their opening two games and how costly could those two dropped points against Portugal prove to be. We have seen a fair few final group games be played in quite a cautious manor thanks to 3rd place possibly being enough to qualify but at least with both teams needing a win this should make the game more open
That said I have a feeling they will then go on to cancel each other out and that will be a result that suits neither side and will then end up sending them both home. Maybe more harsh on Iceland but Austria can’t have too many complaints if they fail to win a group game. A share of the points for me.