Thank you Poland! Thank you Ukraine!

After more than three weeks of excitement, the EURO 2012 is over.  Poland and Ukraine stepped up their "game" and delivered awesome stadiums, fan zones, infrastructure, and welcoming people.  In your face BBC, Sol Campbell should publicly apologize for his nasty remarks.  Thank you Poland!  Thank you Ukraine!

The Spaniards are champions again, second time in a row, after completely destroying Italians 4-0 in Kiev during the final today.  

The Barcelona school of football paid off again.  Italy had some moments during the game but for the most part Spain ruled the pitch.  First half ended with 2-0 score with goals by David Silva - 14" and Jordi Alba - 41".  To add to the drama, in 62 minute, after loosing Thiago Motta due to a hamstring injury, Italy had to play with only 10 players having no more substitutions left.  In 84 minute Fernando Torres scored again for Spain only to assist Juan Mata in 88 minute with another goal.  

If Europe was looking for a grand finale, this game fit the bill.  Congrats Spain!

Germany slams Greece 4:2 at EURO 2012 Quarter Finals

Today in Gdansk, Poland, Germans rolled over Greece with a slam win 4:2 at the EURO 2012 Quarter Finals.  No surprise here. Germans have shown their skills in all games of this tournament. They came out from Group B as a winner.

June 9th, 2012 Germany 1-0 Portugal 

June 13th, 2012 Netherlands 1-2 Germany 

June 17th, 2012 Denmark 1-2 Germany 

June 22nd, 2012 Germany 4-2 Greece 

What a game it was!  Germans have wasted so many chances to score, that it seems Greeks should be actually happy about the outcome. What surprised everyone, was the Greek will of fight. They never gave up and pressed Germans till the final whistle.  If you have missed any of the games, you can still catch up on ESPN3 online.

Tomorrow, June 23rd, watch next exciting game: Spain vs. France.  Game starts at 2:45 ET.

Polish team is out of EURO 2012

The pride.  The white and red flags.  The anticipation.  The reality.  The sad faces.

After a decent roll, Polish national soccer team is out of the EURO 2012 tournament beaten 1:0 by the Czech team.  The first 25 minutes of the first half, Poles ruled the pitch at the brand new Stadion Miejski in Wroclaw.  Several shots on the goal and fast paced game looked very promising.  Then, the Poles lost their steam.  Robert Lewandowski's commitment was futile with lack of the team effort.  Even the overwhelming support of the Polish fans could not revive the team.  It was painful to watch how Czechs were slowly gaining more and more advantage.  Finally, in 72nd minute, Petr Jiracek scored for Czechs.  Poles could not recover and after the final whistle, the host nation was out of EURO 2012.

For Poland, the true hero of the tournament is substitute goalie, Przemysław Tytoń, who took over during the game with Greece after a red card for Wojciech Szczesny.  Tytoń denied the penalty kick saving the 1:1 score with Greece.  During the matches with Russia and Czech Republic, Tytoń have also shown a great skill.  Interestingly, Tytoń means tobacco in Polish, and yes, he was "smoking" at those games.

Logo PZPN (fot. PZPN)

The tournament is still on.  There are many more fantastic games to see.  I'm watching Denmark vs Germany as I write this post.  Germany just scored a second goal in the 80th minute.  Great game.

Perhaps, the Polish Football Union (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej, PZPN) will finally learn from this failure.  Soccer in Poland is a giant source of entertainment, pride, and, of course, money.  Rebuilding the PZPN structure and strategy is mandatory.  I would go as far as abolishing this dinosaur in order to build a brand new, modern, flexible, transparent, professionally ran organization.

Poland has great soccer traditions.  Lets revert the transition from the powerhouse to powerless before it becomes permanent. 

Poland vs Russia: hooligans fight, teams draw 1-1

Is it hot in here or is it the Polish police sweating their bottoms off to diffuse Polish and Russian pseudo-fans (Polish: kibole) before the hotly anticipated EURO 2012 match today?

As reported by BBC, about 1,000 Russians marched thorough the town center, over the Poniatowski bridge on the way to the National Stadium.  The march was planned and authorized by Warsaw city council wanting to display the true democracy in real life dismissing any talk about a provocation.  Not coincidentally, the Polish police was anticipating some disturbances since the football march coincided with the Russian independence day celebrated on June 12th.  After 44 years under Russian rule, display of any Soviet Union memorabilia or flags would just stir up Polish people who still remember the oppressive regime.  

Poles met Russians on the bridge to show their angry disapproval but the swift riot Police action averted any major fights.  15 people were injured and about 100 hooligans were quickly taken out of the game, yes I'm being sarcastic here, and arrested.  

Hopefully, this stupidity won't spill over the town after the game.  Check out some videos taken during the march.

Fortunately, the match itself was an exciting show of sportsmanship by both teams.  Russian team, ranked as 13th in the world by FIFA, could not defeat Polish team, ranked as 62nd.  In 37th minute, Alan Dzagoev scored a goal for Russia.  Poles were devastated but they picked up the game in the 2nd half.  In 57th minute, Jakub Błaszczykowski scored an equalizer.  Both teams tried to change that score but 1:1 was the final outcome.

Now all the Polish team has to do to advance from the group is to win with Czech Republic on June 16th at Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw.  Goooooooooo Pooooooooland!!!

 

EURO 2012 - Go Poland!

During the first and inaugural game on Friday, June 8th, Poland had a great chance to win the match with Greece.  The great UEFA website tracks all the scores, dates, and venues.

The first half was awesome!  Poles were masters of the pitch, like energizer bunnies.  Robert Lewandowski with an assist from Jakub Błaszczykowski, both playing for Borussia Dortmund, scored a goal, and the game became dramatic.  Sokratis Papastathopoulis got a red card and Greeks where left with 10 players.  

Things changed during the 2nd half.  Greeks had nothing to loose and they attacked strongly with Dimitris Salpingidis scoring an equalizer at 50th minute.  

But wait!  The game got even more twisted in the 69th minute when Polish goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny got a red card for a foul on Salpingidis in front of the goal.  Out for Szczęsny, in for Przemysław Tytoń, penalty kick for Greece.

And the miracles do happen!  Tytoń denied the penalty kick by Giorgos Karagounis.  Instant hero.

The final sore remained 1-1.  Poles could win this match but just couldn't get it together during the 2nd half.  I hope they learn from this performance and get ready for Russians on Tuesday.  

For the football lovers or soccer lovers in US, you can get a great Adidas Euro2012 Repliq Ball White/black Size 5.

EURO 2012 starts today!

EURO 2012 aka UEFA European Championship is starting today, in Poland and Ukraine, with an inauguration ceremony at the National Stadium (Stadion Narodowy) in Warsaw (Warszawa).  The ceremony will be followed by the first Group A match: Poland vs. Greece.  


Go Poland!  My score prediction is 2:1 for Poland.  Will see.


If you have an AT&T service, or whatever other service listed on the site, you can watch live feeds on the ESPN website.  This is a great way to follow this third largest sporting event in the world, right after the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.  


16 European teams in 4 groups will compete for the 2012 European Championship.  


Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic
Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
Group C: Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England


Poland and Ukraine completed an astonishing number of projects despite the worldwide recession and Euro financial troubles.  Even though Ukraine is not a member of EU, the country led to EURO 2012 to be organized together with Poland.  


Thank you for that Ukraine, Poles know about your commitment.


Despite some unfair reports from BBC and other Western media, Poland is ready for the challenge.  New roads, hotels, train stations, and above all, friendly Poles welcome all the teams and their fans with open arms.  Polish traditional bread and salt welcome was a huge hit and a surprise to many foreign teams.  Italian team was greeted at the Krakow airport, Irish team had a welcome ceremony in Sopot (near Gdansk). 


But the best welcome, not surprisingly since he was born in Poland, went to Lukas Podolski who plays for German team.  On June 4th, Podolski turned 27 so during the practice in Gdansk, 11,000 Polish fans sang the traditional Happy Birthday "100 lat" (live a hundred years).  Check out the video from the event.

If you are the lucky ticket holder, enjoy your time.  Thanks for visiting Poland!

Poland is ready for EURO CUP 2012

After years of preparation, construction, and political bickering, Poland and Ukraine are ready for EURO 2012 European Football Championship.  And by football, I mean soccer - just to be clear with US readers.  The tournament kick-off begins on June 8th in Warsaw with the final on July 1st in Kyiv.  UEFA president Michel Platini, is still unhappy with the state of new venues in both countries and hotel room prices in Ukraine.  I presume, bitching is his job.

Poles and Ukrainians, on the other hand, are ecstatic.  Poland gained four great stadiums, new roads, and new highways that will serve for years to come.  All of the host cities completed all the construction projects for supporting infrastructure: train stations, new bus lines, new hotels, parking lots, and metric ton more - yes I used metric system to make a point.  Some claim, Poland escaped recession with all that money spent everywhere.  For the Eastern European countries to accomplish project of such proportions - is a success. 

Will regular folks enjoy some profits and stack of zlotych (Polish currency) serving the tourists?  They sure will.  Since the hotel room are gone long time ago, there are plenty of private rooms and apartments for rent for the tournament.  Some accommodations are tight but who would complain about the room having a blast with kielbasa and high octane beverage enjoying Polish hospitality?

Check out the fast motion videos from the construction site of the National Stadium (Stadion Narodowy) in Warsaw.   

Host cities in Poland: Warszawa, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Poznan
Host cities in Ukraine: Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk, Kharkiv