Almost a week into Euro 2016, only one team has scored twice in the first half itself. No, it's not Germany, or France, or Spain, but the 24th-ranked team in the world, Slovakia. Coach Jan Kozak's side were not expected to qualify to the next round from a group comprising England, Russia and Wales, but they have given themselves a great chance to do so by going on to beat the Russians 2-1 on Wednesday.
The two goals were scored by Vladimir Weiss and Marek Hamsik, who also set each other up for both. Of the two, Hamsik's was a stunner – the midfileder received a short corner wide and curled it into the net off the post. It was a contender for the goal of the tournament, along with Luka Modric's belter against Turkey and Dimitri Payet's curler against Romania on the opening day.
Speaking of Payet, the West Ham player has been one of the main reasons France became the first team to qualify for the Round of 16. The 29-year-old followed up his heroics against Albania to slot home another wonderful goal in the dying moments of France's match against Albania, sealing a 2-0 win. The match had been goalless for 89 minutes and looked to be heading towards a frustrating draw for the hosts, before Antoine Griezmann netted in the 90th minute and Payet locked up the three points in added time.
In Wednesday's other match, Romania held Switzerland to a 1-1 draw and picked up their first point of the tournament. Like their first match against France, Romania scored via a penalty, again taken by Bogdan Stancu. Switzerland equalised in the second half through a great volley from Admir Mehmedi, but lost out on securing all three points, which would have secured them a spot in the next round.
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