Highs and Löws of the Tournament

Having just witnessed my ninth and final match of the tournament, I thought I should look back at my experiences during this trip.

Before I set off I was aware of the negative publicity, but as a football supporter and traveller, I don't pay too much attention to people who consistently look for easy stories to create headlines. Instead I believe in finding out for myself. I can report that I have witnessed no problems between supporters and no incidents of racism at all. I have already commented on the exorbitant prices being charged for ( very) basic accommodation and personally believe that this is the reason that supporters have not travelled in the numbers I would expect. The exception being the Irish.

During the last fortnight I have visited six of the eight venues. I have been impressed with every one, to such an extent that I cannot believe there is such a thing as a restricted view ticket. (The only restricted view I heard of was a travelling fan's view blocked by an Irishman standing in the aisle. When the Irishman was confronted he simply smiled looked down, picked up a pint from the row of them he had and gave it to his new friend, and stayed where he was). My only complaint would be that Kiev has a running track meaning that behind the goal you are a long way from the action.

During my trip I met a German who managed to take advantage of the free accommodation in Kiev, by responding to the adverts I had seen (see 15th June), countering my earlier comments and offering a positive perspective on the situation. He rang a phone number, was picked up by his host, driven to the accommodation and then left the key as his host went to work. Then in the evening his host treated him to a sumptuous meal.

Individuals in both countries have been eager to meet and talk to you as a visitor to their country. This wasn't difficult in Poland, but in Ukraine, where less people speak English once a local starts a conversation with you, you can see all the non English speaking people want to join in with this and hijack the local to act as translator.

The culinary highlight for me has been the pierogi (Poland) and varenki (Ukraine) which are simply dumplings with different fillings e.g. cheese or meat.

Having been eating cakes and desserts since before you were aware of James Richardson I can recommend Blinkle in Warsaw and Veronika's in Lviv.

At this tournament I personally believe the quality of the football in the Group stages, has been better than ever before, with most teams having a chance of qualifying, maybe due to the new rules!

The hosts both played their part enthusiastically supporting the games, and had visiting supporters joining in the chants for the two home nations, as I left the stadium for the last time on Friday "Polska biało czerwoni," rang round the ground as the Poles in Gdansk also bade the tournament farewell.

The number of travelling fans has been much lower than at previous tournaments. Although I didn't see them I have heard that the Irish supporters made a favourable impression on the residents of Poznan, where around 30,000 were seen, teaching the locals to "stand up for the boys in green."

As ever the Italians and French did not have the support to match their teams. The Swedes had the luck of the draw and set up camp in Kiev, whilst The Netherlands total of points matched their interest in their base of Kharkiv.

The Russian supporters I see were promised free flights to the Quarter Finals if the team progressed that far as part of Vladimir Putin's election campaign.

The Germans were present in good numbers at all three of their games that I saw, and have a strong belief that they will end their 16 years of hurt.

So those were some of the highs.

As for Löw, just remember Markus's words, as Germany edge ever Klose!

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile

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Euro 2012 football

A Day Off At Euro 2012

As there is no football today I thought I'd send you a few postcards from Kiev. For anyone that didn't receive theirs in the post, here they are!

All these were taken today and you will note there is almost no football involved.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile

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Rewriting the rules

Today I have a relatively short train journey taking me from Lviv to Kiev, only nine hours.

So I thought I could use the time to understand the rules UEFA have issued to decide how group placings are decided in the event of teams finishing level on points.

a) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question.

OK, I understand this and know this system is used in leagues in Europe, in the U.K. we are used to using goal difference first, and then goals scored.

As a) is clear why do we need,

b) Superior goal difference resulting from the matches between the teams in question.

c) Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question.

If there were two teams then it would not apply, but if there were 3 or even 4 teams it could come into effect.

Ok, so far.

d) If, after having applied criteria a) to c), two teams still have an equal ranking criteria a) to c) are then reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine the final rankings.

It is beginning to make sense.

e) superior goal difference in all group matches

f) higher number of goals scored in all group matches

So these two are the ones that I personally am used to, and would have been a) & b) in the past.

g) position in the UEFA coefficient national team ranking

h) fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament)

i) drawing of lots

So, it is quite simple after all.

A slight rewording to a), adding in the event of three or more teams finishing level on points, then it does become clearer.

My guess is that someone from UEFA was on a long journey and decided to have some fun.

Did you see that at the press conference before the Italy v Ireland game, that there was a score of 2-2 projected on a screen for the Croatia v Spain game, a result that would knock Italy out . So clearly there is at least one person in UEFA with a sense of humour.

Maybe that same person had too much time to spend on a long train journey, and created the new rules for their own personal amusement, and left them in amongst a number of items due to be released to the press.

Now my journey isn't over yet so I thought I should finish the task that they started, surely we could incorporate some of the statistics that are produced for every game.

For example, shots on target, surely the team with the most shots on target have been trying to provide the most entertainment.

In the past the number of corners, have been suggested as a means of deciding games.

A new set of statistics shown at these games is the one that shows the distance the players have covered. Now obviously each team would have to employ a specialist just to ensure they understand these rules, South Africa of course would need more than everyone else following their failure to understand previous rules when they were happy to play for a draw thinking they would qualify, when they actually needed a win.

Now if things were looking tight they could advise the goalkeeper to start running around his area. This could leave him vulnerable to long range speculative efforts, but provided his team can hang on to the ball at the other end of the pitch then he could quickly build up the miles. The speedy winger (who is on the bench as he consistently fails to deliver crosses to his team mates) could be brought on to run up and down or even across the pitch so that he doesn't get caught offside.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 Lviv

A Tale of Four Cities

Now coming towards the end of my tour of Ukraine, I thought it was time to discuss what the Ukraine has to offer.

Before the tournament started there was plenty of bad publicity. Now I believe that the reason there are not as many supporters here as normal is the ridiculous prices being charged from the outset by the local hoteliers.

When people see prices of over £100 a night for a basic hotel and over £50 a night in a hostel dormitory bed shared with 8 other people, a year before the competition starts, then prospective visitors are not encouraged to look at this as a sensible proposition. If you did look further into accommodation you would have been shocked to see some rooms at over £1,000 a night.

Noises were made by the Ukrainian government in April asking hoteliers to drop prices, but this fell on deaf ears. Some Ukrainians looked to put this right in May by setting up a movement to offer free accommodation to foreigners to counter the bad publicity their country had been receiving, alas this is too late to make any difference as the people who are set on coming have already made their arrangements.

The attitude of making as much as possible from the visitors is highlighted by my experiences with the taxi driver in Donetsk who would rather charge 250 hryvnia and stand outside waiting for a client than keep busy at a reasonable rate. Also the bar in Kharkiv where the price was exorbitant for locals. This shortsightedness does not endear you to the local businesses but makes me feel sorry for the local people who have to put up with this behaviour, whilst earning a meagre wage for example, the young doctors on the train to Lviv on €100 a month.

As for sightseeing, Kharkiv had several Soviet sights which you are warned that the locals don't like talking about.

Donetsk has the Donbass Stadium and the restaurant Старгород (Stargorod). The next thing to do there was visit a salt mine some 75k away where there is a football pitch 300m underground. I didn't have time to visit but I am guessing that someone from the U.A.E. did.

Lviv has a pleasant feel to it and has plenty of old buildings in the city centre which with some investment could make a popular tourist destination, especially as they have just improved the airport facilities.

There is also the Masoch Cafe, but don't beat yourself up if you don't get to see it!

I had read that there are plenty of things to see in Lviv, and I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the school of science, by a local. The place was used to film the Russian version of the Three Musketeers.

Kiev has (as I mentioned previously) numerous sights which make it stand out as a must see destination.

Would I come back to any of them?

Of course I will, if there is a football match on!

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 Lviv

Lviv and late lie!

Arriving in Lviv, immediately asked for help to get to accommodation. As ever there were volunteers at the train station who seemed startled and surprised to see you.

They pointed me on the direction of trolleybus No. 9. (I had already problems with this address as on the google map showing directions it highlighted a completely different address to the one given. I wrote to them to confirm, but received no reply, so also wrote the Lviv Tourist board who confirmed the mistake on Google maps.

So took the tram the 4k into town and began to search for the accommodation.

Couldn't find our destination wanted No. 10, had 9 & 11 across the street, locals offered to help but were just as confused. So I went round the block and saw an entrance manned with guards. This was my accommodation. Once again nigh on impossible to find.

Lviv itself is a pleasant place with something to offer any tourists unlike Kharkiv and Donetsk, which I don't think too many people would visit.

The support also here in town was good with a large number of Germans once again present. There was also a number of Polish supporters here (Lviv is near the Polish border). Throughout the tournament the atmosphere has been good and fans have mingled with no problems whatsoever, and I have not witnessed any racism at all.

The Lviv New Stadium lies some 6 miles out of town in the middle of nowhere, but free buses were laid on. The stadium has a strange steel looking facade, but inside offered a good view as everyone is close to the pitch.

The feeling between supporters was that there would be a 1-1 draw. However basically anything was possible in terms of who could qualify.

Maybe the Danes shouldn't have been singing "Remember 1992", as Germany drove forward looking for victory.

The German supporters really got behind their team in the second half with a 20 minute chant of "Ole, ole,ole". Though it was only in the last few minutes that they sensed victory as they chanted "Seig".

So now after getting up at 11a.m. It's Lviv for today.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 Lviv

Euro 2012 24 Hours to Lviv

Arrived at the train station to see another new train, unfortunately that was not the one travelling to Lviv at 13.31. Instead it was back to normal, and the comforts of a third class sleeper.

Sat next to two Ukrainians who invited me to play cards, and quickly got talking about football and life in their country. They had just visited Donetsk for the first time having taken the train from their home town on a 16 hour journey.

Their accommodation sounded familiar, a student hall let out to football supporters at 10 times the normal price. If we think this is outrageous, imagine how you would feel if that amount was two thirds of your salary for the month, as it was for these two doctors in their second year of work.

Word got round the carriage that there were foreign football fans in the carriage and my new found friends warned me that they overheard others planned to join us for a party as they stocked up on alcohol. At this stop I also spotted a German friend, Markus and invited him to join us.

Sure enough our compartment was crowded as the locals asked the same questions over and over again through the help of our doctors who translated.

They insisted that we drink vodka with them and when it was suggested that they should offer something to eat, within seconds a loaf of bread, tomatoes and a gherkin appeared.

They were all in total agreement that Ukraine were too reliant on Shevchenko, and that it was unfair on him to carry the whole attack.

Talking of great Ukrainian footballers one man put forward his vote for Oleg Blokhin.

A young boy joined us and quickly took over as translator, as he spoke fluent French/Ukrainian/Russian and English. He offered his views on football and even communism. Finding out that he collected coins from around the world, we were reminded that he was just 12, as he rejected the offer of a €2 Italian coin as he had one already.

There was plenty of heated discussion , especially as Markus got louder and louder convincing everyone that on July 1st 2012 at 23.35 (local time) Germany will be lifting the trophy.

Eventually went to bed around 2a.m! And arose at 9a.m. Only four hours to go.

Complimentary tea was served for breakfast although the sugar that came with it gave a false impression of the train we were on.

Arrived in Lviv on time at 13.04

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Ukraine v France Euro 2012

Made our way into town by local bus and found that we were some 5km past the stadium. So much for on the same road.

The weather was similar to Kharkiv, so I was pleased to see some cloud in the early afternoon to keep the temperature down.

Arriving at the Donbass Arena, it looks like a drab space ship. Inside though the home clubs colours give the stadium a livelier feel. The stadium was the most expensive in Europe, although questions have been asked as to why?

There was an excellent atmosphere in the stadium as the match kicked off, but the rain started to empty the stand opposite me. Then a loud bang, and the players were taken off the pitch. Papers have reported that stands were emptied, truth of the matter is the people were soaked to the skin by the sudden downpour and many had already taken shelter before play stopped.

Ukraine tried, but relied too much on one player. Unfortunately Shevchenko had two good efforts but could not find the net. France produced an excellent performance quickly getting the ball into the last third of play and then, producing passes that Spain would have been proud of.

At the end of the game I expected to find chaos outside in terms of water everywhere but there was hardly a sign of the deluge.

Now the stadium was lit up and looked as though it deserved it's ranking as one of the best stadiums in the world.

Taxi drivers were asking for 250 Hryvnia to take us back, but we went round the corner and got one for 70.

Back at the accommodation we found we had a bed there for the night. Unfortunately for one member of my party their night's sleep ended with another loud bang as their bunk bed collapsed with them in it.

Time to move on.

Will be catching the train tomorrow to Lviv for a 24 hour train journey.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football Ross Clegg

Старгород

After wandering around Kharkiv during the afternoon cooling down with ice creams and then thunder and a little rain, the main aim of the afternoon was to find somewhere to watch the evenings football.

Старгород

Mission accomplished.

Beer garden, unfortunately the weather ruled that out.

Home of FC Metalist Kharkov supporters club.

"An up market version of Hooters" I heard the place described as, not sure what that means.

I hope you can read the photos to see why. My colleagues are currently working hard on their membership application.

If they don't manage to enrol tonight the good news is there are also branches of the restaurant in Donetsk and Lviv, guess where we're heading next.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football

Kharkiv Da Da Da

Decided to go for a curry after midnight to kill time before catching the 02.54 train to Kharkiv. Would you believe it, curry house closed!

So in the end found somewhere else and dashed across town in time to get the train from Kiev. Successfully negotiated the antiquated locker system and caught that train.

The great thing about this journey around Poland and Ukraine is that there was no need to pay ridiculous prices for basic accommodation. So a bargain with a eight hour train journey and a night's accommodation for less than you would pay for a bed for one night. I didn't realise that it also included a free sauna! No windows opened, and a packed train with bunks to sleep on (notice I didn't call them bunk beds!)

Arriving in Kharkiv, the sauna experience helped us quickly to adjust to the 33 degree heat.

Accommodation was 14km out of town, but the 24 hour metro took us nearby in no time. Then 50 minutes of wandering around the "blocks" and we arrived.

Spent the afternoon in Shevchenko Park (where else?). Headed for the Metalist Stadium on the Metro to find the nearest station to the ground was closed. So a 10 minute walk through a landscape that hadn't changed much in the last 30 years, and we were at the stadium. Looking for somewhere to watch the early game, we weren't spoilt for choice and ended up in a small restaurant with a Russian who thought he owned the place.

His English was limited to naming players and the clubs they played for. Hence, da, da, da. It would have been interesting to find out more about him, but I fear that the conversation would not have gone anywhere, especially as I couldn't tell him which clubs all the Russian players played for.

The ground has the nickname of "The Spider", due to the poles supporting the stadiums structure on the outside looking like spider's legs. I couldn't find confirmation, but I believe it is also homage to Queens Park, who are known as The Spiders due to their intricate passing moves in the 1870s. This is also the model that Barcelona copied to play their ticky tacky football that has been so successful for them.

During a quieter moment in the game the neutral supporters began to chant for their country - Roo-see-ya.

Germany deserved their victory and so far are the best team and best supporters seen.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football Ross Clegg

Shevchenko

The day after the night before. As the whole of Ukraine is chanting his name I decided to dedicate the day to finding out more about him.

Walking the streets of Kiev I saw they had already erected statues and plaques in honour of his two goals last night.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football Ross Clegg

Ukraine v Sweden Euro 2012

Managed a quick getaway from Kiev Airport, once again making use of the free transport available from the airport with match tickets on the day of the game, catching a bus and then managed to catch the majority of the England v France game in the Lucy pub (translates to Lucky in English, the horseshoe gives you a clue).

These Ukrainians are in a weight category above that of the Poles, and England had better watch out as if Ukraine do punch above their weight when they meet in Kiev or they could be in serious trouble.

Counterfeit souvenirs were openly on display, as were political protests indicating that Ukraine is at the moment a law unto itself. The countdown to kickoff (coming to a stadium near you soon) was done in Ukrainian. Not unusual you think. In Poland it was done in English.

Once again the stadium in Kiev was magnificent and with all supporters (with an exception!) in yellow and the blue running track, you knew you were in the Ukraine, except the sky and the fields were upside down.

Once the game settled down and I had worked out that Ukraine were the ones playing in yellow and chants of Sver-gay were replaced with Ooh-cry-eena. Ukraine threatened and like Balotelli, Ibrahomivic showed moments of class that make him look one of the best in the world whilst in the same period showed a lack of application that would not be tolerated in every team.

Shevchenko seems to score every time I see him play and do it was no surprise that their current national hero delivered the equalising goal, and then the winner.

Sweden pushed on towards the end but maybe it was Ooh-cry-eena's "Lucy" night after all.

Whilst both teams battled it out, nothing quite matched the passion shown and heard in the Lucy pub earlier.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football Ross Clegg

Gdansk - you, asking?

The train from Warsaw was packed with Spanish supporters, although the wearing of Spanish club shirts helped identify the locals.

Gdansk is unusual for Poland in that it doesn't have a square as it's centrepiece - it has Ulica Dluga (The Long Market). It feels like another step back in time with merchant houses from the 17th century lining both sides of the street.

At the end of the street you meet the River, with numerous restaurants and authentic pirate - would you believe serving dumplings?!

The fact that the match didn't have a full house can be put down to activities happening on Ulica Dluga where once again foreign countries collaborating make a mess of the economy and fail to understand basic economics.

The Italian Football Federation allocation of tickets was not sold as the Russian they passed them to was selling €30 tickets for £140.

The stadium was reached by train from the centre and once again was a fitting venue for a European Championship game.

After the match I found the fan zone to watch the Ireland game. Remember I had said what you see is what you get? Well on sale in the food section was "big slice of bread with lard", I don't think this lost anything in translation, but.... I am not along for that.

After the match I returned to town in time to catch the 23.17 train back to Warsaw. This is due in at 5.50a.m. giving enough time to get to the airport and catch a flight to Kiev.

Imagine the look on my face when I see the departure board at 23.00 with no train departing at 23.17 and nothing listed for Warsaw. Mild panic starts to set in as I expect things to run to plan in Europe, but am willing to tolerate these things on different continents. (except Japan).

I found that the train would be departing at 23.25 and it's final destination Krakow. Headed off with this knowledge to the platform and now found that this was delayed by 25 minutes. Still plenty of time to make it to the airport, where I will be pleased to depart a country where Z scores only 1 for scrabble to a language more familiar - Cyrillic.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Saturday Sightseeing in Warsaw

Spent Saturday sightseeing mainly around the old town in Warsaw. Here it is very much a case of what you see is what you get, a point highlighted by a beggar outside the Central Station with a sign "Money for Beer".

The exception to this may actually be the old town, with its cobbled streets and buildings appearing to date from 1700. The reconstruction done in the 1950s has repaired damage done by the Luftwaffe, after last night's games Warsaw may be safe from another German invasion, as if they win their Group they will play at home in Danzig, sorry in Gdansk.

Took the lift up to the viewing platform of the Palace of Culture and Science from where another good view of the National Stadium could be had.

Delicious Polish dumplings and coffee and cake from Blikle ("Walking into the confection shop may stun your senses with the wonderful smells of delicious sugary treats! "- taken from the guidebook) kept me going throughout the day, before finding an outdoor screen to watch the evening games.

Arose at 5a.m. on Sunday to catch the train to Gdansk, as I walked to the bus stop it was clear that Warsaw doesn't sleep, as bars were still packed and people staggered in the streets and argued with buses.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile.com

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Euro 2012 football

Euro 2012 Poland v Greece

Arrived in Warsaw on the morning of the opening game to bright sunshine in contrast to the pouring rain the previous night as I left Nottingham.

Greeted by people offering accommodation at the airport. With all the problems I had booking somewhere to stay I may need them later.

Was able to use my match ticket for today's game to travel from the airport the centre of town from where I caught my first glimpse of the National Stadium. I visited the site back in 2004, then it was just a gigantic bowl shaped mound which was being used for car boot sales. I was informed that there used to be a stadium there and that it held over 100,000 people.

The rain followed me from England and refreshing light rain turned into a heavy shower as I started to make my way to the stadium. Found refuge in a coffee shop and two Capuccinos later I was on my way. It was still raining but you could feel the heat radiating off the pavement.

I mentioned that tickets were only recently put on sale for the majority of games, some of these were restricted view tickets. Well this stadium did not appear to have such a thing. The stadium is impressive both inside and out. My seat was category 3 (at the lower price end) €45 plus 10% plus €20 delivery charges and was excellent on the last row of the bottom tier right behind the goal where the action took place.
Poland started extremely positively and after they carved the Greeks open for the third time down the right Lewandowski opened the scoring. The Greeks struggled to cope in the first half but stuck to the laws of the game ensuring that they had a Papadopoulos (spell it how you like) on the pitch at all times.

The second half was a different story and an inspired substitution almost gave the Greeks victory.

Returning back to the city crossing the Wisla river, two crowds merged as the 100,000 who had been at the fan fest in the city centre met the 56,000 from the stadium.

I then watched the Russia-Czech Republic game at the, by now, relatively empty fan fest. Each goal was cheered, as there was a healthy Russian contingent present. The Poles were to busy drowning their sorrows to realise what a situation they had got themselves into from such a promising start.

© Ross Clegg & Soccerphile


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