There were little flashes of brilliance from him on Saturday in Bordeaux, but Marek Hamsik showed Euro 2016 what he is all about on Wednesday with the greatest individual performance of the tournament so far to lead Slovakia to a 2-1 Group B win over Russia in Lille.
Against Wales on matchday one he had opened up looking ready to rock the continent, dancing past a number of defenders before rounding goalkeeper Danny Ward only to see his shot wonderfully cleared by the rapidly retreating Ben Davies. As the debuting Welsh got on top thereafter, the Napoli midfielder saw his influence stifled somewhat.
But he was not to be denied by the Russians, turning in a dazzling showing which had Leonid Slutsky’s side on their knees by half-time.
