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.
Tomorrow, Albania vs Switzerland finish up the first game of Group A in Euro 2016, and while football will certainly take center stage, there is another intriguing plotline to keep an eye on as the game kicks off. Granit Xhaka, Arsenal's new midfielder, will take the field for Switzerland against his brother Taulant, who plays for Albania.
You may be wondering how two brothers became seperated in such a fashion, especially as both of them have acknowledged that they share a very close relationship.
37-year-old Eidur Gudjohnsen will be making his international swan song for Iceland at Euro 2016. The attacking player from Reykjavik is certainly the most famous footballer to have come from Iceland. He scored 54 goals over six illustrious seasons with Chelsea. He spent three seasons with Barcelona, capturing a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble in 2008-09.
Nike has a knack for creating really long advertisements for soccer. You have the older ads such as the three-minute 'Write the Future' ad and the the three-minute 'Take It To The Next Level' ad.
Yes, it was only a pre-Euro 2016 friendly. Yes, it was against Estonia, a side that didn’t qualify for the Euros and is currently ranked 94 in the world, but, oh my gosh, did Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma put on a show in Portugal’s final warm-up game before the start of the tournament in France.
It's time for another international tournament in the form of the European Championships, and while Euro 2016 songs are sparse, they're not nonexistent.
Home