EURO 2012: Warsaw: Final Stop in Poland

Aerial view of the phoenix city

We have reached the fourth and final Polish city set to be one of the glittering EURO 2012 hosts come June next year. Before heading to neighbouring Ukraine, Sportskeeda has the chance to look at the capital city of one of Europe’s ancient and lively countries, that is, Poland. Being awarded the chance to host one of the world’s most popular sporting events, both Poland and the Ukraine have embraced the build up to the tournament with open hearts and minds.

Having had the opportunity to write about the previous three cities, reaching Warsaw is the ultimate finale to what the likes of Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw would be offering to the footballing world in June, 2012. Since being awarded the rights to host EURO 2012 on 18^th April, 2007, Poland and the Ukraine have waited earnestly for 2012 to arrive and now with a little more than a year left to the big day on 12.06.2012, expectations and tensions are at their peak with the capital cities Warsaw and Kiev leading the pack to showcase their modernity via the beautiful game and shrug off the typical Eastern Bloc image once and for all.

Warsaw is the pioneer of strength and rebirth from the destruction of history. Nicknamed the Phoenix City for its ability to rise from the ashes of war, Warsaw is the most important city in Poland and one of the most economically and politically vibrant ultra-modern European cities. Situated on the banks of the Vistula river, the Polish capital had had to endure the harshest of times in modern European history. From being the first city to bear the brunt of Adolf Hitler’s all conquering Nazi army during World War II to being one of the most industrially active Communist hub during the Cold War, Poland’s biggest city of 1.7 million people have seen it all. Hosting of the European Championships would make the city come full circle from the days of desolation and deprivation to being the capital city of the so called ‘New Europe’.

Warsaw has been provided with the prestigious opportunity to host the opening ceremony and the first match of the tournament featuring Poland. Apart from the inaugural game, the National Stadium would host two other group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final.

TRANSPORT(Data from uefa.com)Warsaw-Fryderyk Chopin Airport is 8km south of the city centre. There are several train stations. There are direct daily services to Wroclaw (five hours), Gdansk (4.5 hours), Poznan (3-4 hours), Lviv (14 hours, though quicker if you change) and Kyiv (15 hours). There are two bus terminals: Warszawa Stadion serves east-bound destinations while Warszawa Zachodnia handles all other routes, including to Gdansk and Wroclaw (both take 5-7 hours).

Distances to other UEFA EURO 2012 venues:Poznan – 320kmWroclaw – 350kmGdansk – 345kmLviv – 385kmKyiv – 820kmKharkiv – 1,250kmDonetsk – 1,465km

The National Stadium

The new National Stadium set to be opened to the public next month is the symbol of modern Poland, vibrant, dynamic, advanced and happy. The stadium is built on the site of the crumbling 10^th anniversary stadium or the Stadion Dziesieciolecia. The current 58,000 seater multi functional sports facility would also include an indoor sports arena, a conference hall, an Olympic size swimming pool, an aquatic park, a hotel and a service centre providing catering services inside the state of the art stadium. The giant stadium, that would depict a waving Polish national flag, would be home to local rivals Legia Warsaw and Polonia Warsaw but reports suggest that the stadium would be used for prestigious fixtures by both the clubs and primarily for the national team’s international engagements.