Euros

Russia vs. Slovakia ended 2-1 in favor of Slovakia as two moments of Marek Hamsik magic gave the small nation their first European Championship victory. It was a massive three points for Slovakia, and it mounts pressure on England in Group B as they get set to take on Wales tomorrow.  

The game started out slow, as both teams fought for control in the midfield. As such, neither team really had any clear cut opportunities. Fedor Smolov came close with a low drive that went just wide, while Marek Hamsik came close with a dipping volley. 

The result is official. Portugal have lost to tied with Iceland 1-1. It’s a result that somehow isn’t surprising but doesn’t make any sense at the same time.

Euro 2016 is well underway as we approach the end of the first round of group matches, and there have been some engrossing storylines so far. We here at The18 took a look at some of the highlights and surprising moments from the past week across France.

Dimitri Payet

In case you missed it, a video surfaced earlier this week of Germany coach Jogi Low scratching his crotch then sniffing his hand during Germany's 2-0 win against Ukraine. It was very funny and led to some content for some websites for which we are very grateful. But there's more.

Apparently, this was not an isolated incident.

Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is one of the world's most coordinated humans. The 38-year-old stops soccer balls with his appendages for a living. He is a professional coordinated person. He bosses the net for Juventus, and set a record this season for most consecutive minutes in goal in Serie A without being scored on.

After Italy upended Belgium at Euro 2016, though, Buffon was not quite as coordinated as usual. Just take a look.

Euro 2016 has made a remarkable number of headlines because of fan violence. UEFA has already threatened to boot England and Russia out of the tournament because of hooliganism. Luckily, there is one nation that brought fans who appear to be partaking in the Euros as a celebration of soccer and not an excuse to throw chairs at people: Ireland.

Yes, that Ireland. The Ireland whose citizens are famous for doing things like drunkenly throwing chairs and punching people.

Or, at least, Ireland brought Irish people on as good of behavior as Irish people can be on.

Ukraine was unlikely to beat Germany when they faced off in the first round of group play at Euro 2016 last weekend, but their struggles weren’t supposed to be this cruel. Ukraine played very well against Germany, and Germany quite honestly were boring, controlling the game with long spells of tepid possession. Still, Germany won 2-0.

Italy have defeated Belgium 2-0, and can you hear that? That deafening silence? That’s the rest of Europe coming to terms with the fact that Italy are once again a team to be reckoned with at a major tournament. 

English fans and Russian fans keep fighting at Euro 2016, and that's a problem. But the Euro violence is not as much of a problem as one bloodthirsty Russian politician reportedly thinks.

Before the quote, a disclaimer: certainly, not all Russians. But, equally as certainly, some Russians. Like this one.

Russian Football Union board member told me he won't condemn Russian fans, argues French should have put tanks on the streets in Marseille.