You only had to see the look on Armand Sadiku's face when he scored what proved to be Albania's winner against Romania to see what the goal mean to his team – to his whole nation for that matter.The celebrations that greeted Albania's maiden finals success at the final whistle in Lyon were equally exuberant, but that was just the start. Even at midnight, as the players' bus pulled awa from the Stade de Lyon, they were still singing "Ti Shqipëri më jep nder" (You Albania Give Me Honour), and while they were straight to bed when they got home, fans and team staff stayed
Football Update
Ronaldo urges Portugal to believe amid frustration
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal captain[Breaking Luís Figo's Portugal appearance record] is a reason to be proud. It was a goal to be the most-capped international player and to be the national team's top scorer. But I'm a bit sad because this wasn't the way I wanted to break this record. We wanted to win. This was not how I envisaged it.We had a lot of chances and we did well, but we weren't able to finish. I also missed some chances – a penalty and some others. But that's part of football. We need to continue to believe, and once again
Gamble pays off for Czech Republic
It cannot have been a very pleasant speech Czech coach Pavel Vrba delivered to his charges in the dressing room at the half-time break during Friday's game against Croatia. The Czechs needed at least a point after their opening-day loss to Spain, but – at 1-0 down – looked to be heading for a heavy defeat."I told them to play football, because without that we can't compete against Croatia, because they were stronge," the coach recalled. "We were hiding and not linking up or putting together moves. We were getting into difficult situations and kicking the ball into space aimlessly." Those words did not hit
Éder sparks ecstasy as Italy go through
Éder scores with two minutes to go to take Italy into round of 16Marco Parolo earlier hits Sweden bar during strong Italy finish to gameSweden remain on one point and are yet to have shot on target in finalsNext Group E fixtures, 22 June: Italy v Republic of Ireland, Sweden v BelgiumAll the build-up, match action and reaction as it happened on UEFA.comÉder's tremendous solo effort with two minutes to go in Toulouse sent Italy into the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16 on the back of a second Group E victo...
Germany and Poland both satisfied with draw
Adam Nawałka, Poland coachWe were controlling things, even at the end. There were times when Germany took the initiative but we gave it to them consciously, to allow us space to hit them on the counterattack. I'm very happy with the team, in particular their discipline and tactical awareness. It all went exactly to plan. The players put a lot of heart into it.The only thing I'm not completely happy about is our failure to score but 0-0 was a fair scoreline. I'm happy the players aren't fully satisfied. It means they ask a lot of themselves and there's more to come. Now we have
Hot topic: British derby day #ENGWAL
Paul Saffer (@UEFAcomPaulS): England and Wales have played more than 100 times but never at a major tournament, so ahead of today's game in Lens I have convened our reporting team for the match, Tom Kell, Simon Hart and Mark Pitman.Live match build-up Thanks for joining us. First off, a question for all three of you – speaking personally, what does the England v Wales game mean?Mark Pitman (Wales team reporter, @UEFAcomMPitman): It's something you grow up with, regardless of the sport; it's instilled in you at an early age that you want Wales to beat En...
Hamšík’s Slovakia one-two sends Russia reeling
Show-stopping ball from Marek Hamšík sets Vladimír Weiss up for Slovakia's firstNapoli midfielder bends in second moments before half-timeSubstitute Denis Glushakov heads in for Russia as they go for broke at deathNext Group B games, 20 June: Russia v Wales, Slovakia v EnglandAll the build-up, match action and reaction as it happened on UEFA.comMarek Hamšík set up the first and scored the second as Slovakia shook off their opening-day disappointment, and handed sluggish Russia a finishing lesson in Group B.