Euros

Things got contaversial at Euro 2016 during its opening weekend. During the 90 minutes between the opening and closing whistles of matches were spectacular, but otherwise, when the teams go away and fans are left to their own devices, hooliganism reigned Saturday. 

The most notorious incidences so far have involved the actions of England and Russia fans surrounding the England vs. Russia group stage match this past Saturday. Some of those incidences are depicted in this video:

Ireland. Sweden. Zlatan. Euros. The Irish played very well in their 1-1 draw with Sweden Monday, but there was one problem they couldn't account for. They didn't have Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

They did, however, have Wes Hoolihan, who scored teh opener and set drunken Irish fans dancing about and singing and buying each other pints and stereotypes.

Jogi Low can celebrate the fact that his Germany squad opened up Euro 2016 by taking care of business against Ukraine, 2-0, but, instead of doing that, maybe he shouldn't appear in public for a bit.

Low got caught by a camera on the sidelines doing . . . well he . . . just watch the video, which may or may not be safe for work (it probably is unless your company is run by Puritans).

Spain vs. Czech Republic ended 1-0 for La Roja. Gerard Pique scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute to break Czech hearts. It was not a vintage performance from Spain, as they struggled to break down a Czech side that had not kept a clean sheet in a competitive match since 2013. Three points is three points however, and Spain are now level with Croatia at the top of Group D. 

Germany vs. Ukraine ended 2-0 in favor of Die Mannschaft in Group C, with Shkodran Mustafi and Bastian Schweinsteiger baggin the goals. The result sees Germany leapfrog Poland, who beat Northern Ireland earlier, into first place. It wasn't a vintage performance from Germany, and Ukraine were a little unlucky not to equalize in the first half, but the Germans stayed strong and ground out the victory. 

Some players feel that the colors of their country fit better than anything else. The whole team speaks the same language and shares the same culture as them. A whole country supports them.

Maybe it is the honor in wearing your national team’s jersey, maybe it is the positive pressure that international games produce. Whatever it is, it is hard not to see a pattern with some players who simply play better for their country than for their club.

Here is a short list.

Go ahead and draw conclusions about what this means with regards to England, but Russia will be the worst nation to ever host a World Cup. South Africa, the only host nation to ever fail to advance from the World Cup group stage, at least gave us the entertainment value of Siphiwe Tshabalala, Steven Pienaar and the vuvuzela.

It's a hard life for an England fan. As the England National Team gear up for another go at a European Championship, most fans can't help but remember the heartbreak and tears of past attempts. 

The stats alone behind Dimitri Payet’s performance against Romania are absurd: a game-winning goal, an assist, multiple highlight reel skills, and eight key passes. The context behind them elevate his performance too nothing short of legendary.

After making only 18 appearances for France prior to today, after being passed over time and time again again by the biggest clubs in the world, 29-year-old Dimitri Payet scored the game winning goal to give France a 2-1 victory over Romania in the opening match of Euro 2016, a tournament that France is hosting.