Ronaldo misses penalty as Portugal draw 0-0 with Austria
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a second-half penalty on the night he became his country's record appearance holder as a hugely frustrating match for Portugal and their captain in Paris ended goalless to leave Group F wide open.
Advertisement
Ronaldo struck the base of the post with his spot kick after Austria defender Martin Hinteregger had wrestled him to the ground and later headed home only to be denied by the offside flag.
But huge credit for Austria's point must go to keeper Robert Almer, who made a string of sensational saves.
He stopped a crisp low strike and a header from Ronaldo as well as blocking from Nani, who struck the post with a first-half header as Portugal looked to pick up their first win of the competition.
Portugal dominated large swathes of the first competitive meeting between the sides since 1995 but were almost caught out several times, in particular when Stefan Ilsanker forced a good save with a crisp low strike shortly after the restart.
The result means that Hungary top Group F with four points, Portugal and Iceland both have two and Austria one - a situation which leaves all four in with a shout of reaching the last 16.
Ronaldo's record on a night to forget
It might have been a record-breaking night for Ronaldo, who was making his 128th appearance for Portugal, but he can't have endured few more frustrating ones since making his debut against Kazakhstan in 2003.
With Luis Figo, the man whose record he eclipsed, watching in the stands the scene was set for the 31-year-old to steal the headlines with his penalty but after sending Almer the wrong way he drilled his effort into the base of the post.
Ronaldo had become something of a pantomime villain after criticising Iceland's "small mentality" following their 1-1 draw in their opening match.
And his Euro 2016 didn't improve much during an opening half at Parc des Princes when he was a largely peripheral figure - save for one poor miss after a neat one-two involving Raphael Guerreiro had carved open the Austrian right side.
Seemingly unwilling to run at opponents and settling instead on probing along the Austrian defensive line, the Real Madrid forward seemed to take an age to make his way off the field at half-time, a dejected and troubled figure.
However, he nonetheless rebounded after the break, troubling Almer and forcing the game's best chance after Hinteregger fouled him.
But his failure to score means that his wait to become the first man to score in four European Championship finals goes on.