Macintosh: Euro 2016 Heroes and Villains

Cristiano Ronaldo le quita de un tirón un micrófono a un periodista y lo lanza a un lago
ESPN FC"s Craig Burley reflects on Iceland qualifying for the round of 16.

With Euro 2016 reaching the business end of the tournament, there"s been plenty to look back on. While heroes and potential match-winners have emerged in France, there"s been plenty of flops and villains too.

Here"s a look back at the winners and losers, starting with the good guys ...

Heroes

So much for diluting the quality. The success stories of the so-called minnows have been the highlight of the tournament. The incredible Iceland side, drawn from a pittance of a population. The wonderful Welsh, at their first tournament since 1958. The Irish and the Northern Irish, roared on by their incredible supporters. The redoubtable Hungarians, who never give up. And a word for poor Albania, whose gallantry against the odds will live long in the memory. There are still issues with the tournament"s expansion to 24 teams, but quality isn"t one of them.

Andres Iniesta gets better and better. An excellent performance in Spain"s 3-0 win against Turkey was capped with a sensational evasive manoeuvre that kids all over the world will be trying in the park. Surrounded by onrushing Turkish midfielders, Iniesta simply took the ball out of the equation by flicking it straight up in the air and taking a step sideways. Then, with adequate space duly created, Iniesta simply brought the falling ball back under control and nudged it out to Juanfran. Magnificent.

There"s 102 seconds left. France, favourites to win the European Championships in their own back yard, have a problem. They"ve allowed Romania back into the game and for all their available talent, they can"t find a way through. A 1-1 draw would give Switzerland a good chance to win the group, shutting the door on the pre-planned soft route to the semifinals. And then the ball falls to Dimitri Payet, surrounded by Romanian defenders, just outside the penalty area. He takes a touch with his right foot and then unleashes a thunderbolt with his left. France 2-1 Romania. Problem solved.

How many heroes have really turned up in France? Not many. But Gareth Bale has been everything that Wales required him to be and more. There"s no trace of ego, there"s no sense that he has taken a higher orbit than his teammates. He"s scored in every game, and you wouldn"t want to bet against him continuing that record for a while longer yet. And those free-kicks ... Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane may have a very tricky decision to make next season.

Gareth Bale"s goals have propelled Wales to the round of 16.

Yes, there have been obvious exceptions, but out here in France it"s impossible not to be swept up by the euphoria of the supporters. All across the country, people from every nation have celebrated, commiserated and in many cases, become wildly inebriated with each other. The hope now is that it will continue into the latter stages and that the competition will be seen as a sign of what unites Europe, rather than a reminder of the ugliness that can divide it.

Villains

This was a profoundly miserable tournament for Russia. If Iceland, with their climate and tiny population of around 300,000, can fix their national team, the largest nation on earth really has no excuse. Leonid Slutsky brought an over-matured, painfully slow team to France and they were fortunate only to be thrashed once, as Wales thumped them 3-0. There are few positives that can be drawn from this. A dramatic and lightning fast overhaul is required if they"re to have any hope of avoiding humiliation in 2018 when they host the World Cup. And we haven"t even mentioned theproblems off the pitch ...

There was something very sad about Ukraine"s dismal showing. A nation beset by issues far more serious than football might have united in an inspirational display of national pride. But it really didn"t work out like that. There were worries in the camp already, feuds between key players and serious disciplinary problems. There were faint signs in their 2-0 loss to Germany that they might be able to overcome it all, but their display in the 2-0 defeat against Northern Ireland was absolutely pitiful. They leave not just without a point, but without even a single goal.

Dark horses? No chance. Austria were a pantomime horse. Not a real horse at all, just some sweaty men in a costume doing their best not to fall over in front of everyone. There was more than enough talent in that team to facilitate a run to the latter stages, but they lost their way in the first game against Hungary, the opening exchanges of which they dominated, and never came back. This could have been the summer when one of the grand old powers of European football reasserted itself for the first time in decades. Well, actually it was. It was just a different grand old power.

David Alaba had a tournament to forget as Austria were eliminated in the group stages.

He redeemed himself on the pitch with a fine performance in the 3-3 draw against Hungary, but Cristiano Ronaldo"scomments about Icelandwere spectacularly misjudged. It"s a tiny nation in their first ever tournament against top seeded Portugal with one of the world"s best players up front -- of course they"re going to try to defend. Ronaldo has seemed troubled this summer, snapping on Wednesday andthrowing an intrusive reporter"s microphone in a lake, later electing not to speak to the press in either his man of the match presentation or the mixed zone afterwards. Despite the schadenfreude, it"s hard not the feel sympathetic to the pressure he is under. But he hasn"t helped himself.

Amid the joy and the excitement, UEFA has some serious questions to answer about their handling of this tournament. The policy of blindly matching up games with stadia, regardless of the size of teams and security concerns, has to change. Security is supposed to be tight, but a pitch invader managed to getwithin inches of one of the world"s most famous players. Fans aresupposed to feel safe, but thousands had to flee in Marseille as Russian Ultras poured through inadequate stewarding. Checks are supposed to be thorough, but pyrotechnics, firecrackers and, in one instance a flare gun, have all made frequent appearances in France. It hasn"t been good enough.

Iain Macintosh is a writer for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @IainMacintosh.

Source: http://www.espnfc.com/european-championship/74/blog/post/2900440/bale-and-payet-euros-heroes-while-cristiano-ronaldo-is-a-villain