Renato Sanches praises Portugal's partisans

Portugal's Renato Sanches is taking everything in his stride. A brilliant breakthrough season at Benfica led not only to a call-up for UEFA EURO 2016 but also a recent €35m move to Bayern München. Far from getting carried away, the 18-year-old has his feet firmly on the ground. On Thursday, the softly-spoken midfield dynamo opened up to EURO2016.com.

The 1-1 draw against Iceland ...

I think it was a good match in terms of what we did – we had several chances to score and a lot of possession. Obviously it wasn't the result we wanted, but I think we played well. We knew the Iceland team were very tall and physically very strong. Our defence were very strong in the air. So I think we showed good concentration, we were very focused and their goal just came at a bad time.

The squad are relaxed and despite the draw we still feel good. In fact, it increases our motivation and desire because we know that every game will be more difficult now. So I think we're quietly determined.

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Austria ...

I expect the same that I was expecting from Iceland – a very aggressive team. Every game is going to be difficult, we all know that. We are expecting to come up against a very aggressive team that want to win, because if they lose this match they'll be in a very difficult position. So we're expecting to face a team playing with great intensity.

David Alaba is a great player, and everyone is aware of that. A specific plan? I don't think so. Every player at this tournament is here because they're a quality player. Some players are better than others, of course. But I don't think we have a specific plan to stop Alaba, even though he's a great player.

Topping Group F ...

Finishing the group stage top is the best thing. If it happens, it means Portugal were the best team in the group, right? So I hope we finish first, because that's also one of our objectives.

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Portugal's fans ...

They are important because when we have the support of our fans we get stronger on the pitch. You aren't as hesitant and you feel like you're playing at home, so this support is really important. It gives us a lot of motivation and it's been really good for the team. We're in France, but sometimes we feel like we're in Portugal.

Being Portugal's youngest-ever player at a major tournament ...

I'm very happy about that. It's brilliant to play in these matches here with my team-mates – fantastic players who I'm slowly getting to know. And I'm playing against some fantastic players too. I'm very happy that I can enjoy this moment.