SPORTS / SOCCER - WORLD

Playing for pride

It feels that major sporting investments are a waste of money, but if there were a way to put a monetary value on the national mood, perhaps the sums would come out differently

• Credit: Luis Vazquez/©GULF NEWS

At the beauty shop on Grzybowska Street, the manicurist was glancing at her watch. Dressed in a red-and-white top, wearing red-and-white feather earrings, she had been painting people’s fingernails red and white all day long. But now she wanted to finish. Soon it will be time for the match. Was she going? Of course she was going. “Everyone I know is going!”
                         

Last Friday, it seemed as if everyone in Warsaw was going to the match — the opener of the 2012 European Championships, which is being co-hosted this time by Poland and Ukraine. Poland were playing Greece in the first game and more than 50,000 people were heading for the stadium. Several tens of thousands of others were gathering in the “fan zone” at the centre of the town. Most were dressed in the red-and-white colours of the Polish flag.
                                     
The tiny minority sporting blue and white for Greece certainly stood out. But when they met, the Greek fans chanted “Hellas! Hellas!” and Polish fans responded “Polska! Polska!” and both laughed and moved on. This lack of ill will might reflect the lack of historical enmity between Poland and Greece, since Polish and Russian fans did take a few slugs at one another after their match on Tuesday. It might also reflect the fact that neither Poland nor Greece have much chance of winning the tournament.
                         
I told the manicurist that many feared Poland would fail to advance past the first round. She shrugged and said: “I’m just happy we have the tournament and I really want to enjoy it.”