SportsJOE’s XI of the opening round of Euro 2016 fixtures

We had the team almost made out prior to the Portugal – Iceland game and had a slot ready for Cristiano Ronaldo to fill.

But, as we’re sure you know, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget and nobody from the final Group F fixture made the cut in our team of the opening round.

The upsets arrived late in the round with Hungary’s killing of everyone’s dark horses Austria a result to remember.

Italy’s defensive masterclass is represented in our back five, as is the triumph of defence over attack across the opening fixtures, while our midfield is crammed with talent.

Robbie Brady’s performance for the Republic of Ireland sees him line out alongside the impenetrable Juventus contingent.

Here’s what we have after the first round.

Igor Akinfeev (Russia) – Produced the save of the round and proved a point after disappointing at the last World Cup

Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini (Italy) – BBC were so impenetrable against Belgium that it would be a shame to break them up. Bonucci’s pass for Emanuele Giaccherini’s opener makes it even more of a certainty.

Kyle Walker (England) – The brightest spark for Roy Hodgson’s team, the Spurs man got forward well and formed a good partnership with Adam Lallana on the right.

Robbie Brady (Ireland) – The Dubliner was an absolute joy to watch on the left side of Ireland’s defence against Sweden. Perpetually dangerous going forward and starved Zlatan Ibrahimović of the delivery he so craved.

Luka Modrić (Croatia) – He’s not a holding midfielder as such but he did end up playing there at periods against Turkey. He also played at flippin’ centre-half for a few minutes. A magician with the ball at his feet and his volley was stunning.

Andres Iniesta (Spain) – He’s not human! The ball just sticks to his foot and he’s the owner of the best range of passing on earth.

Andres Iniesta's game by numbers vs. #CZE:

100% take-ons
92 passes
5 chances created
1 assist

The Don. #ESP pic.twitter.com/tIEEbKpfWZ

— Squawka (@Squawka) June 13, 2016

Mesut Özil (Germany) – It was a toss-up between Özil and his teammate Toni Kroos but the way that Ozil ran the game against Ukraine led us to his selection. Unbelievable cross for Bastian Schweinsteiger’s game-killer.

Dimitri Payet (France) – What a goal and what an important time to score it. So many of France’s big names were let downs against Romania but Payet, not as big a name as Antoine Griezmann or Paul Pogba, came good in all the right ways.

Gareth Bale (Wales) – A glorious free kick (that probably should have been saved) opened the scoring against Slovakia and his athleticism was a handful throughout. While Ibrahimović, Lewandowski and Ronaldo struggled, Bale held his own up front and left upcoming opponents England worried.