If anyone thought that Brazil crashing out of a tournament that arguably doesn’t matter was going to kill Neymar’s Summer of Partying 2016, you were dead wrong.
Neymar has been hitting up the United states recently, hanging out with the likes of Justin Bieber and Jamie Foxx.
Footage has surfaced of him partying at a Las Vegas pool, and it was every bit as over the top as you imagine.
Sometimes, when two countries with such rich, intertwined histories as England and Wales compete on the biggest stages in sports, feels are felt. One sad Wales fan was caught on camera during Wales's crushing loss to England and he was feeling some serious feels.
He was feeling all the feels.
It was all so close to going gloriously, pathetically, predictably wrong for England. They put in a first half against Wales that was reminiscent of everything that England had ever done wrong in the past: there was talent on the field, more talent than the opposition, but England not only couldn’t get ahead, they found themselves behind. When Gareth Bale sent in his deep, deep free-kick past Joe hart, who maybe should have done better, it seemed like history was doomed to repeat itself.
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.
Birkir Bjarnason's goal wasn't a rocket from 30 yards out or a bicycle kick, but it was a goal that was Iceland's first international tournament goal ever. As about 10% of Iceland's population watched from the stands in Saint-Etienne, the "Ice Men" stole a point from a favored Portugal team. A special moment for this country no doubt, but their special moments may just be starting as the team demonstrated how they can perform on a big stage. Being down 1-0 at halftime, they responded just 5 minutes after the break with a historic goal from Birkir Bjarnason.
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.
Peru vs. Brazil in the Copa America group stage Sunday saw an unprecedented refereeing decision regarding a handball.
No, not that one.
You know that thing where players go down as soon as they get bumped and they grab the ball while they're on the ground, but before the ref can call anything, and force the ref to decide between a foul and a handball? I f****** hate when players do that.
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.