EURO 2021

A coach should have a detailed plan for every group match. Franciszek Smuda, 63, has been leading the national team for 25 months. – In the clubs he used to be adamant. He worked hard for a great respect and recognition, because he focused on the work with the team and he wasn’t interested in nothing else – says Marek Koźmiński, 46-time representative, a silver Olympic medalist from Barcelona from 1992, who played over 100 matches in Series A and appeared at the World Cup in Korea. – In the […]

With the Polish venues on track in their preparations for co-hosting Euro 2012, the lingering concern for the country’s football fans is whether they will have a national team capable of putting up a respectable performance. Coach Franciszek Smuda has seen his side fall as far as 73rd in FIFA’s admittedly farcical ranking system, with the dearth of playing talent a regular topic for the country’s footballing media. Many wonder what happened to the squad that won the European Under-18 Championship in Finland in 2001. That team included Tomasz Kuszczak, […]

Ukraine and Poland will duly prepare for hosting the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) European Football Championship in 2012, said UEFA President Michel Platini. “We have been in intense preparations for the Euro 2012. There have been some difficulties, but everything will be good at the 2012 European Championship in Ukraine and Poland. We had asked for stadiums to be ready two years before the tournament, but this is not always possible. This is very hard work. Everything will be done on time,” he told a press conference in […]

On Friday, August 5, 2011, the Poland Senate voted against  amendments to the Law on security at public events, which permits sale of low alcohol drinks at football matches, including matches during Euro 2012. Last week, the amendment was admitted by the Polish parliament. The Senate rejected the sales of “light” beer in the arenas of Euro 2012. Senator of political block “Law and Justice” Peter Kaleta turned to the audience on the eve of the vote with a question: if today will be allowed to sell alcohol in the stadiums, […]

Construction has been completed on a stadium in Gdansk, northern Poland that is to be one of the venues for the Euro 2012 football championships, officials said on Tuesday. The stadium was given the green light nearly three weeks after its completion deadline of July 1. It will have its grand opening on August 6. Delays in building the Gdansk stadium forced officials to move a June 9 friendly between Poland and France to Warsaw. The stadium is one of four Polish venues that will host matches at Euro 2012, […]

In mid 2007, Poland was abuzz after receiving co-hosting rights with Ukraine for the Euro 2012 football championship. A year from the event, the country is biting its nails with key infrastructure yet to be completed. As May came to an end, a storm drew over the Polish capital, Warsaw, and it became evident that the roof at its brand new national football stadium – built ahead of the 2012 European Championship – was not entirely waterproof. Shortly beforehand, it had become known that the staircases at the stadium were […]

Martin Kallen, an operating executive, visiting Lviv a year before the Euro 2012 assessed the level of preparations of Poland for the tournament at the level of 80%, and Ukraine – a slightly lower. Generally, I am hopeful – he said. According to Kallen, “80%” for Poland concerns both the state of preparations of stadiums, as well as airports and highways. When it comes to Ukraine: stadiums consists in 70-80% and airports – 60%. However, as far as highways are concerned, it will take take 30-40 years. In Ukraine there […]

UEFA-recommended accommodation centres are approached as basis for individual national teams for Euro 2012. The drawing of groups for the finals will take place in Kiev on December 2. Each participant of the finals has the right to point out a single accommodation centre in Poland and Ukraine and two substitute centres. The UEFA-recommended accommodation centre list, published on October 1, 2010, includes 17 Ukrainian and 21 Polish centres. The list does not include a centre in Grodzisk Wielkopolski already booked by the Polish national soccer team. This is the […]

Two years before the first match of Euro 2012, no one talks about removing Poland the right to host this great football event. Polish organizers are happy. During the Monday’s news conference they proudly quoted the words of the head of UEFA, Michel Platini said at the beginning of June: – Preparations in Poland run properly and there are no great risks. – This is a great satisfaction for us – said Adam Olkowicz, head of the Euro2010 company established by UEFA, which is responsible for preparation and managing the […]

CNN’s new series i-List takes you to a different country each month. In June, we visit Poland focusing on changes shaping the country’s economy, culture and its social fabric. Warsaw, Poland (CNN) — Football fever is already gripping Poland ahead of co-hosting the European Championships in 2012. Despite the national team’s absence from the World Cup in South Africa, the country’s sports fields are packed with children and amateur footballers getting into the mood. When Poland and Ukraine host Euro 2012, they will be the first Eastern European countries to […]