Ronaldo puts the boot into plucky Iceland

Cristiano Ronaldo was heavily critical of Iceland’s approach after they held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in their opening Euro 2016 encounter in Saint Etienne.

Nani fired Portugal into an early lead although after Fernando Santos’ side had spurned some decent chances to extend their advantage, Birkir Bjarnason levelled for Iceland in the second half.

Playing for the first time at a major tournament, the Icelandic players threw everything into defending what they had and managed to keep Portugal at bay and cling on for a point. It leaves Portugal two points adrift of surprise group leaders Hungary after the opening games in Group F but Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo made little of the approach from Iceland.

“It was a little bit frustrating, we tried hard to win the game, Iceland didn’t try anything,” Ronaldo told reporters. “They scored a goal, they created two chances in the 90 minutes and otherwise they got every player behind the ball, they put the bus in the net. “Iceland didn’t try anything, they were just defend, defend, defend and playing on the counter-attack. It was a lucky night for them.”

In stepping out at Euro 2016, Iceland had become the smallest nation ever to compete in the tournament, with a population of 330,000.

According to Ronaldo their stay in France will not be a long one given their attitude, with the 31-year-old less than impressed by the manner in which the opposition welcomed the final whistle. “I thought they’d won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end, it was unbelievable,” he added.

“When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this in my opinion shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition.”

Portugal are 1.85 to beat Austria in their second game on Saturday while they are now 2.00 to win Group F.