As Portugal are finding out, the very nature of this extended European Championship is that it isn’t always about how you start but how you finish.
There have been a huge number of matches in which teams plugging away have finally got their rewards in the closing moments: France against Romania and Albania, Spain against the Czech Republic and England against Wales are among those that come to mind.
In those cases, pressure has built and built until goals have become almost inevitable, and the fact the four best third-placed teams qualify for the knockout rounds has given a similar feel to the group stage too.