Euro 2012 Diary – It’s all about Ronnie

Like most other European countries Ukraine has encountered some economic turbulence over recent months. But there is a sense of optimism brought round by having a major tournament hosted here, and not just optimism, investment too. A brand new hotel has been built in the centre of Kharkiv, aptly named ‘Kharkiv Palace’ and is housing many high profile guests, delegates and media covering the tournament (not me though!). We did go and have a nose though at the fantastic sky lounge bar overlooking the city and the fan zone on the top floor however didn’t stick around for long as it wasn’t exactly a beer and feet up type of establishment.

The next day was the day of our final game, Portugal V Netherlands. To pass the time we went over to another new local hotel though this one had an outdoor pool complete with dancing DJs. This managed to keep us distracted for long enough until we shot over to the stadium for the crucial showdown. As soon as we arrived there seemed to be a slightly tense and nervy atmosphere reflecting the fact things were getting closer to the business end of the tournament. In part it may have been down to some apprehensive Dutch fans not wanting to leave Kharkiv without a point to their name.

Pitch preparations underway for the final match of Group B

After a lively start to the match in which Holland took the lead we were convinced this was going to be a cracker. Strangely after the first ten minutes any Dutch confidence seemed to evaporate and this coincided with the rise of Ronaldo. He is a love/hate figure there’s no doubt about it; he loves the limelight, he loves that his teammates look to him for inspiration. Say what you like about him but on this occasion, he delivered, and succeeded in breaking Dutch hearts in the process.

Outside the stadium celebrations were in full swing and Ronaldo’s name was being chanted everywhere we looked. TV cameras were doing the rounds capturing the post match reaction so we did our best in pretending to be Portuguese fans just to get on camera. Shameful.

Jubilant Portuguese fans outside the ground

Slav & Me enjoying the build up to the final Group B game

So that was it! The following day we hit the road to the Ukrainian capital Kiev (a mere 450km) and I was soon in the air heading home. It has been a jam packed trip and a very enjoyable one. All the fans were well behaved and the hosts embraced the occasion and delivered something for everyone.

Thanks to everyone in the Ukraine for making the trip such a memorable one. Special thanks to Slav, Kate, Oleg, Arsenyi and all of our fan zone buddies. Hopefully see you all again in the not too distant future.

Reflecting on the trip about to take off from Kiev