Euro 2012

found on twitter

Remember English football star, Sol Campbell saying about Euro 2012 in Poland – Ukraine, “Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don’t risk it because you could end up coming back in a coffin,”?

Back at ya.

Euro 2012 has come and gone.  Spain, the favorite and defending champs, out-played Italy 4 : 0.  Many felt Italy stood a good chance, but Spain had what, I think, was their best match of the tournament.

We’ll be without Euro now for four years; it’s two years off from the four year World Cup cycle.  The next Euro will come in 2016 and will be played in France.  The field will be expanded from 16 teams to 24.  We’ll probably be watching on ESPN2 next time.

I’ve written about Warta Poznan before.  Their president, a former Playboy model, has written a letter to Italian football striker, Mario Balotelli – you know, the black player with the bleached mohawk.  The same player who when interviewed about the state of racism in the host countries, said he would ‘kill’ anyone that threw a banana at him.  Did that have anything to do with all the inflatable bananas in the color of the Irish flag that the “boys in green” were carrying?

Well, Balotelli stormed off the pitch after the final whistle – shoving aside a team official who attempted to block his path to the changing room, as coach Cesare Prandelli screamed at him to turn around.  He did eventually return to accept his runner-up medal in tears.

What follows below is the English tranlation of the Polish translation of the Warta president’s letter, which was actually written in English.  You’ll get the jist of it. Nicely done, Izabella!

Dear Mario,

First of all I would like to note that I’m really impressed with Your performance at EURO 2012. There is no doubt that you were one of the biggest stars of the tournament. I would like to have such a utalentowanego player in my team. I do not understand, however, how is possible that Rhinoscleroma such as Ty began sobbing after the match final in Kiev.

I think that you are working on your image-the image of a heavily strong faceta, little thing and unpredictability. Tears that do not match, so I decided to give You a few handkerchiefs. Please, stop sobbing. The time has come to show the best side of the Club, winning trophies. Show the world the true, true Warrior Balotelliego and not płaczka.

Greetings,

Izabella Łukomska-Pyżalska, President Of The Warta Poznan S. A.

Shot from a passing tram

The crews are already at work dismantling the fan zone.  They expect to have everything back to normal by the coming weekend.  Looking back on the experience, I have to say that:
— Poznan did a fantastic job as a host city
— the people watching was excellent
— I met some witty, charming people
— it was very interesting to be in the fan zone so often and aware of what was going on behind the scenes

Time to hang up my credentials and get back to a normal routine.

 

Football-wise, today pairs Portugal and Spain in the first semi-final match in Ukraine.  Tomorrow, Germany and Italy will face off in Warsaw.  I’m in the fan zone tomorrow and again on Sunday before the final match.

Before the volunteer schedule came out for this week, we thought about going to Warsaw tomorrow just to watch the semi-final in the fan zone.  It would be interesting to see what their fan zone is like; I understand that it’s huge – holding three times as many people as Poznan’s.  Our favorite hotel in Warsaw, which happens to be right by the fan zone, is sold out  Other hotels in town are offering rooms for $700 – $900 that night.  After the semi-final, they’re back in the $80 – $150 range.  We’ll have to watch from here!

football fans – an irreverent lot 😉

I must say that Poznan feels a little empty now that the the foreign fans are gone.  Immediately after the Ireland – Italy match (the last one played in Poznan), a grassroots effort began to organize a friendly match between a Polish team and the Irish national team.  There’s huge interest in this – complete with facebook page, website, and all kind twitter activity.  Ed reads a lot of football news and tweets; he’s read that the Irish team is interested in playing Warta Poznan, who also happen to wear green.

I found statistics saying that 80% of our Irish guest plan to return to Poznan in the future.  The conversations I had with Irish visitors in the fan zone back this up  So many people said they had been expecting an ugly, grey, impoverished city, and they were delighted to find a modern, college town, with beautiful architecture, great public transportation and all kinds of nightlife.  One gentleman said that everyone he had run into had been so helpful, whether it was in his hotel, the fan zone, or just buying some bread and cheese at the market.

Many of the Polish people we know are in the hospitality industry – working in restaurants and bars  They have all been slammed – hopefully making a lot of money during the festivities and generating tax revenue for the city.  I read recently that all of the host cities had taken on debt as they prepared for the matches.  (Some funding was provided by UEFA.)

So the preparation and effort that has gone into being a host city should translate into increased tourism over the years, and equally important, it has changed Europe’s perception of Poznan and Poland.