With Day 6 of Euro 2016 in the books, we have collated some of the best of our content from the last 24 hours in one place. All the latests news, plus group guides, kick-off times and news from around the teams can be found at our special microsite.
1 – France leave it late, but party has only just started
Late goals from Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet helped France become the first team to advance to the knockout stages of the European Championship on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Albania.
For the second consecutive match, late pressure rescued a patchy France side that is struggling to live up to its pre-tournament billing as one of the favourites.
Against Romania on Friday, it was Payet’s superb strike from distance that won it, and this time – with the clock running down – Griezmann placed himself perfectly to nod in a cross from centre-half Adil Rami.
France president Francois Hollande jumped out of his seat and thrust his arms in the air, and the Stade Velodrome rose as one to hail Payet after another outstanding finish.
With grace and poise reminiscent of France great Zinedine Zidane, Payet cut in from the left and beat two players before curling in the second goal.
2 – Slovakia’s Marek Hamsik exposes Russian futility
Slovakia supplied two high-class goals in the defeat of Russia, each illustrating Marek Hamsik’s catalytic qualities. For the opener, the Napoli playmaker dropped deep to pierce the Russian defence with a wonderful diagonal pass. Vladimir Weiss latched on to it, cut inside and beat Igor Akinfeev. That was Hamsik the creator. The second was Hamsik the scorer, showing the range of his gifts. He collected Weiss’ shot corner, turned on to his right foot and unleashed an unstoppable shot that arrowed in off the far post.
Hamsik was outshone by colleagues in defeat to Wales but this underlined his status as Slovakia's talisman and great talent. His was among the outstanding individual performances of Euro 2016 so far, according to Richard Jolly, ranking alongside those of Dimitri Payet, Toni Kroos, Andres Iniesta and Leonardo Bonucci.
3 – Britain’s got talent, but who are top dogs?
Thursday’s Group B fixture between England and Wales in Lens has an edginess about it in the wake of events in the south, although Russia’s fans have been punished as the aggressors in the incidents that took place in the Stade Velodrome at the end of England’s 1-1 draw with Russia.
That draw left the English trailing in the British joust for pre-eminence in the group. Wales will take on an England that they have not beaten since 1984 buoyed by the determination they brought to bear on Slovakia in their opening game, a 2-1 win, three points secured by Hal Robson-Kanu’s late, scuffed goal.
Gareth Bale, excellent against Slovakia, told reporters with a smile that none of England’s squad would merit a place in Wales’s XI, an XI that on Saturday included men employed at Reading, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Milton Keynes Dons, clubs beneath the Premier League, the elite, wealthy home to all of England’s footballers.
A neutral assessment of their relative strengths, Ian Hawkey writes, might decide that, of the Welsh, only Bale, Aaron Ramsey and perhaps Ashley Williams the defender, would merit a place in England's team, but probably no others.
4 – Robert Lewandowski vows to have some fun against Germany
Poland striker Robert Lewandowski is tipping Germany to win Euro 2016, but it will not stop the Bundesliga star trying to shoot down the world champions when the sides meet Thursday.
Lewandowski proved his reputation as one of the world's best strikers as he finished top scorer with 13 goals in qualifying for the European Championship finals.
Poland’s 27-year-old captain arrived in France on the back of a stellar season at Bayern Munich, netting 42 goals in all competitions for the Bavarians.
Poland have only beaten Germany once in 20 meetings, when they out-thought them 2-0 in a qualifier in Warsaw in October 2014 with goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Mila.
“For me, Germany are the favourites for the whole tournament, but anything can happen. We have to stay calm and be confident against them,” said Lewandowski.
“No fear, no stress – we also need to have some fun.”
5 – Hamsik outshines French and Swiss star peers
World-class names like Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann headline France’s Euro 2016 squad. Important figures at top European clubs like Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner litter Switzerland’s.
Better than them all so far, however, has been Slovakia and Napoli man Marek Hamsik.
Breaking down Wednesday's action, Greg Lea writes:
“If Russia were missing a dash of creativity in the final third, Marek Hamsik ensured Slovakia were not.
“The Napoli playmaker set up Vladimir Weiss’ opener before doubling his team’s lead with a stunning finish late on in the first half. It was Hamsik who made Slovakia tick throughout, with Weiss, Robert Mak, Juraj Kucka and Ondrej Duda all impressing in support roles.”
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