UEFA EURO 2012 (part.2)

In a recent pool my firends postcrossers told me that the story from the opening match of the UEFA EURO 2012 was their preferred one. So I decided to share with you one of the semi-finals as well.

The semi-final was played on the National Stadium.

Already when I was approaching the stadium it was obvious who is going to play.

Football is a game that unleashes strong emotions. As a result, not all fans behave the way they should. To prevent incidents, the stadium was surrounded by policeman. Of course, I liked best these ones.

I booked a comfortable place in one of the skyboxes.

Before the match started we could watch a little dancing show.

Then the call for respect began. Both captains read a message in their native languages. The supporters had their part too.



The national anthems were a moving moment. Unfortunatelly the supporters of one of the teams did not understand the "respect" message and were booing, whistling and hissing during the other country's anthem. Very bad behaviour folks.

During the German anthem a huge flag arose.

The teams shook hands.

Finally, the game began.

The German supporters were all excited.

No surprise, since Buffon was very busy in the first minutes.

A relief for the Italian sector - no goal this time.

And then out of a sudden the ball was in the German goal. Balotelli is an amazing player. The Italian team was more than happy.

If you rememebr well, the opening match included a penatly. Well, this one as well. This allowed Mesut Özil to score his first goal in the chapmionship.

The match ended with 2:1 for Italy. As it was the last match of the championship played in Poland, a huge "thank you" message entered the field.

That was really a great match and I enjoyed it a lot. See you in 2 years in Brazil!

P.S. Thanks to Mariusz for his support with the pictures.

UEFA EURO 2012

I still have not seen everything I want to see in Prague. But I had to come back to Warsaw this weekend. I simply had to. After all, it was a once in a lifetime chance to show you the opening match of the European Football Championships. This year, the UEFA EURO Finals take place in Poland and Ukraine. Warsaw is one of the proud hosting cities.

You can see the signs of the football madness everywhere.

The opening game was taking place at the National Stadium (you might remember the basket that I have shown you from the Palace of Culture and Science).

The crowd was overwhelming. I hoped to find some rest in this nice lounge. Unfortunately the Men in Black did not let me in.

So I strolled to the lucky gate number 7.

They scanned my ticket and I was allowed to enter the Temple of Sports.

I liked in particular the roof. In the middle there were huge TV screens where everyone could see the most important parts of the match. Just in case the people standing in front of you would not let you see the players.

The National Stadium in Warsaw has 58,000 places. This one was mine.

The match was to be played between Poland and Greece. You could see quite many Greeks.

And a few more Poles.

Everybody was waiting for the game to begin when strange people in black suits entered the stadium and started to put a blue thing on the grass.

After a few minutes, the playing area looked like a small lake.

The reason was probably so that the dancers do not ruin the grass. You probably ask yourselves what would dancers do in a football field. Well, they danced.

It was a very nice and colourful show.

Then a huge logo of the game arose.

Finally, Slavek and Slavko, the Official Mascots entered the playing field. It was the sign that the match is to begin at last.

Both teams played with devotion.

After the first half Poland was winning 1:0. Then suddenly it lost a goal.

And them came the worst. The Polish goal keeper got a red card, followed by a penalty.

To the delight of all Polish supporters, the new goal keeper managed to defend the penalty! The match ended with 1:1. Which is probably a fair score. Though of course 2:1 for Poland would be slightly better. Keep your fingers crossed for the next match!