Euro 2012 challenge

On the subject of EURO 2012, I just read an article on TurkishPress.com about how big a challenge it is going to be for both Poland and Ukraine to get the infrastructure in place for the big event.

It was an interesting read I must say. I know what things look like in Poland. After all I spent there 20+ years and even after 2 years and a half here I know what must be done over there. The part of the article on Ukraine was more interesting. I am sure they are facing even a bigger challenge than the Poles.

I have never been to Ukraine myself; I can imagine what it is there like from stories heard and if this country is in any way comparable to Lithuania... well then it is going to be a tremendous task ahead of them. I hope no Lithuanian or Ukrainian will take an offence here at me comparing their countries...


Anyway, the reporter who wrote this caption under the photo on the right made a mistake...

"Ukranian Football Federation Chairman Grigory Surkis(L) kisses his Polish counterpart Michael Listkiewicz after both countries were chosen to co-host the Euro 2012 tournament at a ceremony in Cardiff, Wales.
(AFP)" (source: TurkishPress.com)


The thing is Listkiewicz is the grey-haired, taller guy! His photo (on the left) was taken from here.

I can understand when reporters mistake the Polish president with the Polish prime minister. They are identical twins after all; though not to know which one visited Mr. Blair in UK and which one went to Germany to pay a visit to Ms. Merkel... well... was not very professional.

But then ... to mistake Mr. Surkis and Mr. Listkiewicz? A bad reporter's day to say the least.

A little note on Lithuania:
One of the things I was really impressed by in Lithuania were trains. I went from Vilnius to Riga on an overnight train. It was old, huge and black with steam coming out of the chimney. Inside an employee was putting coal into the furnace. This was the nicest train trip I had - in a warm, relatively comfortable compartment. It was better than a Polish train and it was incredibly punctual with the arrival at the destination not one minute late or one minute early. It will not be much of a consolation though for a football fun travelling between Poland and Ukraine - 22 hours' trip would discourage anyone and make attending most matches simply impossible.


Source of this photo - here.