Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Group F favorites Portugal is scheduled to take on tough team Iceland on June 14, Tuesday at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne to open their 2016 UEFA European Championship campaign.
Bannered by no less than three-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, A Selecção das Quinas is ranked eighth in the world by FIFA and is actually one of the favorites to take home the European trophy this summer.
Apart from the Real Madrid superstar, head coach Fernando Santos' squad also has his teammate, Pepe, in the backfield together with veterans Ricardo Carvalho of Monaco, Vieirinha of Wolfsburg, Eliseu of Benfica, and Bruno Alves of Fenerbahçe in what is considered as one of the oldest in the competitions.
The midfield is dominated by Sporting CP players, namely Joao Mario, William Carvalho, and Adrien Silva with young guns Danilo of Porto and Andre Gomes of Valencia.
Up front, Ronaldo still leads the way alongside Besiktas striker Ricardo Quaresma and Lille's Eder.
As in recent years, much of the team's success relies on the health of Ronaldo as he is still recuperating to top form coming off slight injuries during and before Los Blancos' Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid last month.
As for their final Euro 2016 warmup, the team demolished Estonia, 7-0, at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon on June 9, SkySports reported, with Ronaldo and Quaresma both scoring braces.
Meanwhile, world no. 34 Iceland is said to be the smallest nation to qualify in this summer's tournament, but the team is definitely not lacking in firepower.
Co-managers Lars Lagerback & Heimir Hallgrimsson have some reliable players at their disposal, such as Alfred Finnbogason of German side Augsburg, Gylfi Sigurdsson of the Premier League's Swansea City, and Birkir Mar Saevarsson of Swedish team Hammarby.
Strákarnir okkar pulled off a 4-0 rout of world 168th-ranked Liechtenstein in their last friendly before the Euros, as per Daily Mail Online.
While they are not predicted to advance in the next round, the squad is expected to give all of their Group F opponents a tough fight, including the powerhouse Portuguese squad.
If Ronaldo is not 100 percent fit in their match, then a closer fight than anticipated could take place.
The predicted result is a 3-0 rout for Portugal.
Portugal starting lineup (4-1-2-1-2 formation): Patricio; Soares, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; Pereira; Mario, Gomes; Moutinho; Ronaldo, Quaresma
Iceland starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Halldorsson; R. Sigurdsson, Saevarsson, Skulason, Ingason; Gunnarsson, Gudmundsson, G. Sigurdsson, Traustason; Sigborsson, Finnbogason
