The international airport of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv opened a new modern terminal on Saturday in order to meet UEFA’s demands and provide world-class facilities for Euro 2012.

The opening ceremony, held on the country’s Aviation Day, was attended by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, governmental officials and UEFA members.

“This is the big step forward as Euro-2012 championship provides Ukraine with great opportunities. This newly built terminal is a good example of how to attract investments into the country’s infrastructure reconstruction,” Yanukovych said in his speech.

Ukraine will do all it can to promote itself as a country with huge potential and reliable partner, Yanukovych stressed.

“To have a stream of investments in Ukraine’s economy we have to work hard to create comfortable conditions for investors not just ahead of Euro-2012 but for further strategic projects as well,” the president said.

Ukraine’s private company DCH had spent about 80 million U.S. dollars to build the 20.000 square meters terminal with a capacity of 2 million passengers per year, according to local media.

Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine, will host Euro 2012 along with Kiev, Lviv and Donetsk.

Source: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2010/08/29/2681s591647.htm

The western city of Wroclaw might fail to complete a stadium designed for the UEFA Euro 2012 Championships on time because of an invalid contract.

The Public Procurement Office has found that the contract which Wroclaw authorities signed with a German contractor, Max Bogl, might violate the law and thus be invalid.

“We’ve expected to receive comments from the Public Procurement Office since the Polish law on public procurement is among the toughest in Europe. But I hope that we will manage to convince the office that we’ve done everything in accordance with the law,” says Marcin Garcarz, spokesman for the Mayor of Wroclaw.

The office has not ordered Wroclaw authorities to terminate the contract yet because they have the right to appeal. If, however, the National Board of Appeal decides that the agreement violates Polish laws on public procurement, Wroclaw will have to select a new contractor, which will considerably delay the construction of the stadium and, as a result, the city may be deprived of the right to host Euro 2012 matches.

Source: TheNews.pl (http://www.thenews.pl/sport/artykul135417_wroclaw-to-lose-out-on-euro-2012.html)

As Spain were crowned World Cup winners in Soccer City, the curtain came down on the first World Cup to be held in Africa. European teams completed a 1-2-3 with Spain beating Holland in the final and Germany taking 3rd place with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay.

This only goes to strengthen the argument that European football is the strongest in the world and that the European championships are a superb tournament. Qualifying for the Euro 2012 finals begins in September and despite finishing 3rd, Germany will be amongst the favourites to win the title. Their young team produced some brilliant football throughout the World Cup with Thomas Muller taking the Golden Boot with 5 goals and 3 assists. With other young stars like Ozil, Boateng and Kediera, Germany will be one of the teams to beat.

As current World and European champions, Spain will be another difficult opponent. Most of their team will still be young enough in 2012 to provide stiff opposition and they will be keen to defend their title.

For once Holland managed to leave their individual egos behind at the World Cup and as a result, they reached their 3rd World Cup final beating many peoples favourite, Brazil, on the way. With better finishing from Robben, Holland could well have won the tournament instead of Spain and they will look to continue in the same vein during Euro 2012.

The traditionally powerful teams of France, England and Italy both failed miserably in South Africa and as a result, the curtain will definitely come down on many of the older players careers. England have a host of exciting young players to bring to the international stage and if they can emulate the German team, there will be high hopes amongst the English fans.

The Euro 2012 host nations of Poland and Ukraine will both enjoy tremendous support but ultimately, they probably do not have the quality to seriously challenge for the title.

The Football Association have confirmed Capello will remain as England manager – despite admitting they were considering his position following the team’s disappointing 4-1 second-round defeat to Germany.

But after being told he will be staying in the job, the Italian admitted he will make changes before returning to action in a friendly against Hungary in August.

‘I can assure the fans I am now fully focused on our European qualifying fixtures, starting with the friendly against Hungary,’ he said in a statement.

‘We will look to introduce new players to give the team new energy and I will use all my experience to take England forward.

‘I am extremely proud to be the England manager, it means so much to me and I am determined to succeed.’

Given Capello’s comments, several of England’s senior players look unlikely to remain in contention for the starting XI by the time of the next major championships in Poland and Ukraine in two years’ time.

Goalkeeper David James, who turns 40 later this year, looks certain to be axed despite a decent showing in South Africa.

Meanwhile 32-year-old Emile Heskey’s disappointing World Cup could spell the end of his international career – despite featuring regularly in qualifying for World Cup 2010 and starting the first two group games.

Source: The Metro (http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/833865-fabio-capello-england-squad-set-for-overhaul-for-euro-2012-qualifiers)

When England departed these shores for South Africa a few short weeks ago, there was so much hope that at long last, England could bring the trophy home. However, that dream was destroyed in no uncertain terms by the old enemy Germany in Bloemfontein as England crashed out of the tournament losing 4-1. How could such an experienced team who qualified so easily fail to perform? Not surprisingly, the English media has come up with no shortage of scape goats and reasons for what was England’s worst defeat at a World Cup. There has been plenty of talk about the Italian manager, formations and more but the problems are far deeper.

Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League has achieved great success as a global brand. The cost of this success has been felt by English football. Increased TV revenue has forced wages higher and higher. In turn this has meant there has been a growing split between club and country. Clubs pay their players a lot of money and are more and more reluctant to let their players turn out for their national teams.

In turn, players get massively rewarded by Premier League clubs to the extent that success is classified by securing lucrative contracts rather than anything they achieve on the field. Average players who rarely turn out for their teams are still millionaires and when these players put money ahead of playing games at club level, there is little doubt they don’t have the mental strength or hunger to play international football.

Traditionally, there was always a regional reserve league which meant young players from smaller clubs could be guaranteed playing against decent reserve sides from bigger clubs like Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United. However, in recent years, the Premier League has changed so they will only play against other Premier League reserve teams. This means that Championship reserve teams no longer get to play against Premier sides. For teams like Ipswich Town, it means their reserve team now plays against Stevenage instead of Spurs and this drop in standard in opposition no doubt has a negative effect on the learning curve of young players.

With so much wealth at stake, everything is geared to Premier League survival. Clubs spend fortunes bringing in supposedly superior foreign managers and players in a bid to retain their Premier League status. The ambition of promoted teams to the Premier League extends no further than finished 4th bottom. The Premier League cash bonanza means that Premier League clubs can offer £1-2m for young players at lower league clubs. The players are keen to move and secure their financial futures but it could also signal the end of their careers. Young Crystal Palace star joined Spurs but hardly played and was last seen on loan at Brentford, a division lower than when he was at Palace. From a football point of view, Bostock would have been best served staying at Palace and learning his trade. How many more young players careers are curtailed like this chasing the money instead of playing the game?  Its difficult to blame the young players for taking the money.

There is also the common accusation that clubs play too many games in England and more and more managers want a winter break. However, players don’t seem to be tired when asked to fly off to the USA or Far East on pre-season tours. Or how about England’s friendly fixture next June away in Thailand?

There are far too many ready made excuses for failure that players are ready to accept. They live a life well away from the real world with their mansions, sports car and trophy wives. Quite simply, there is not enough hunger or desire.

The game in Thailand also highlights another problem. As well as the Premier League being a global brand, so are the England team. People want to see the big Premier League stars play for England and in friendlies like this, those stars will be expected, if not contracted, to turn out.  However, it is not the case that the best 11 players make the best team. Too many players are in the team based on reputation rather than performances. Young players should be promoted into the senior squad sooner.

For the upcoming Euro 2012 campaign, England should dispense with the services of all players aged 30 or over. None of them have performed in South Africa so why should we persist with them. It would be far better to promote younger players who may still be hungry for success. However, while the worshiping of the Premier League continues, things are unlikely to improve anytime soon.

WALES’ third Euro 2012 qualifier will be played at the St Jakob Park stadium in Basle.

After an opening trip to Montenegro on September 3 and then the visit of Bulgaria on October 8, John Toshack’s men will then face Switzerland in their third game.

Considering the Swiss were the team to come out of pot two for Group G, the game, which will be played on Tuesday October 12, could prove crucial to Wales’ qualification hopes.

The stadium seats 42,500 people.

It is the home of Swiss Super League champions FC Basle.

Source: Wales Online (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-in-wales/2010/06/22/basle-euro-2012-trip-for-toshack-s-dragons-91466-26696915/)

UEFA has given Ukraine’s latest efforts to be ready to co-host the 2012 European Championships with Poland their approval.

There had been concerns over delayed work to stadia and airports which had put Ukraine’s position in jeopardy, leading to a possible Plan B of another country taking over.

A meeting of the Euro 2012 steering group was able to deliver good news for Ukraine who had been threatened with either Germany or Hungary taking over their place as co-hosts, with UEFA president Michel Platini telling them back in April they had two months to make changes.

UEFA said in a statement: “There is no reason for UEFA to look into alternatives – so-called ‘Plan B’ – if this plan is respected and delivered. There are, however, no signs at all that Kiev will not be in a position to host Euro 2012.”

The world financial crisis, political problems and severe winter weather had held up infrastructure work in Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lviv.

Source: ESPN (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=792224&sec=europe&cc=5739)

The Polish Energy Group (PGE) will pay 8.5 million euro to acquire rights to name of the EURO 2012 stadium in Gdansk.

PGE Arena Gdansk, previously the Baltic Arena, will start using the new name on 31 May and continue doing so until 2015.

PGE – which made its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange last November when the state treasury sold a 20 percent stake in the power giant – will pay 35 million zloty (8.5 million euro) for the naming rights.

The city of Gdansk sold the rights in order to cover some of the costs of the stadium’s construction. “The money will also cover maintenance costs, which are estimated at 10 – 12 million zloty (2.5-3 million euro) a year,” says Michal Kruszynski from the Euro 2012 Investments Office in Gdansk.

Tenders for the sponsorship contract for the Gdansk stadium was opened in November 2009. PGE and the oil firm Lotos were the final competitors for the contract which also includes the display of the company’s logo at the stadium.

PGE Arena Gdansk will host a quarterfinal of EURO 2012 and three group matches. The stadium, which is designed to look as if it were made of Baltic amber, has a capacity for 44,000 spectators. Construction of the PGE Arena Gdansk started in 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. The cost of the investment will amount to 630 million zloty (150 million euro).

Source: TheNews.pl (http://www.thenews.pl/business/artykul132314_polish-energy-giant-snaps-up-gdansk-stadium-.html)

ROSS COUNTY keeper Michael McGovern thought his world had fallen apart just 10 days ago at Hampden.

Tomorrow, a few thousand miles away from Scotland’s National Stadium, McGovern will feel on top of the world when he grabs his first senior international cap for Northern Ireland.

The keeper is set to be handed an outing against Turkey in Connecticut after a call to New York – and it could not have come at a better time after his day of hell in the Scottish Cup Final.

McGovern was shattered after County’s failure as his error handed United a lead they never lost.

Having played a key role in the run to the Final, the nightmare hit him hard.

However, salvation has come in the shape of Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington, who was not going to allow one error to cloud his judgment.

Worthington preferred to concentrate on the stellar season the former Celtic kid had at Victoria Park and handed him a ticket for the team flight to the US.

McGovern admits it has come as a massive boost. He said: “I received a call a few weeks ago to ask if I would be available and then a letter arrived.

“It makes my summer holiday shorter but I’m not bothered about that because this is a wonderful opportunity for me.

“To play at senior level for your country is a massive honour.

“I have 10 caps for the Under-21 side but I have yet to play for the full team even though I have been in a couple of squads.

“I know a few of the boys in the squad and it is very exciting.”

It is the perfect pick-me-up for McGovern after Hampden but the keeper added: “I’ve been able to have a think about the entire day of the Cup Final.

“It was a massive disappointment and it took a couple of days for me to get over it.

“But when you look at the season, we had some massive achievements.

“We equalled our best ever points tally in the league and reached the Final – you can’t be too disappointed with that.” McGovern has been terrific for manager Derek Adams and Worthington’s call has justified his move from Dundee United.

The 25-year-old had struggled to get a look in at Tannadice after leaving Celtic.

McGovern said: “I needed to play games and it has worked.

“Being involved here with my country proves it was the right move.

“If I can do well on this trip, I would like to think I might get involved in future.”

McGovern may be too modest to say but the door is clearly open for a young keeper to force his way into the plans of Worthington for the Euro 2012 campaign.

Maik Taylor played through the World Cup 2010 qualification with Partick Thistle’s Johnny Tuffey as back-up.

However, Taylor is 38 and Worthington needs some fresh faces to break into the scene and provide a new generation.

McGovern said: “I haven’t looked into things too much in terms of the overall squad and the position with the keepers.

“There could be an opportunity for me but first things first, I need to focus on this trip and make sure I do myself justice.”

Motherwell star Stephen Craigan, Rangers hitkid Andrew Little and new Aberdeen signing Rory McArdle have joined McGovern on the trip.

Gers duo Kyle Lafferty and Steven Davis did not make the journey.

Source: Daily Record (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/world-football/2010/05/25/northern-ireland-cap-call-lifts-staggies-keeper-michael-mcgovern-86908-22283581/)

NEW Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster is aiming to reclaim his England place for Euro 2012 after Edwin van der Sar’s form meant he had to quit Manchester United.

Foster has made the £6m switch to St Andrew’s after missing out on Fabio Capello’s squad for the World Cup finals this summer.

He had effectively become third choice at United – behind Van Der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak.

But the 27-year-old is looking to make the same impact for Birmingham as Joe Hart, who is heading to South Africa with England after a successful season on loan from Manchester City.

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