Portugal the standard for 2012 hosts

The success of Portugal at UEFA EURO 2004™ can be an inspiration to Poland and Ukraine as they begin the long process of preparing to host UEFA EURO 2012™.

Unexpected victory
This was the message from Polish Football Association president Michał Listkiewicz in Cardiff following the victory of the joint Polish and Ukrainian bid. Listkiewicz recalled how Portugal was a surprise choice for many critics to stage the 2004 finals and said: "UEFA's policy to grant big tournaments to new regions and new countries is a really great initiative. Let's remind ourselves of Portugal - and this was the best EURO ever."

'Dream coming true'
Listkiewicz, a former international referee, said that for Polish football, today's news was "on a par with 1974 when [striker Grzegorz] Lato won the Golden Shoe and with 1982 [when, as in 1974, Poland finished third at the FIFA World Cup]". He continued: "Millions of Poles have been dreaming of staging such an event in our country. I was refereeing in Italy [where he was an assistant referee at the 1990 World Cup final] and I was dreaming that one day the best players would come to my country so our children could see them in person and not only on a television screen. Now this dream is coming true."

Looking east
Grigoriy Surkis, the president of the Football Federation of Ukraine, said: "Ukraine and Poland now have this chance to show our best. It's a decision made in accordance with the policy of solidarity in UEFA. We are approximately 85 million people, we are neighbours and there are more than 200 million people in the nations neighbouring us. It is a great audience."

Infrastructure
Surkis added that the required logistics for a tournament that will take place in two time zones "gives us the impetus to build a new infrastructure and to come close to the European standard". UEFA EURO 2012™ will bring new stadiums to Gdansk and Warsaw in Poland and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk in Ukraine, as well as ensuring the renovation of eight other grounds. "We deserve the right to build a new Ukraine and a new Poland," Surkis said. "Over the next five years we will build new countries - otherwise we won't have such a chance for another 30-40 years."

Support from the top
Poland's sports minister Tomas Lipiec applauded the united efforts of the two nations, whose joint-bid was supported in person at the final presentations by their respective heads of state. Both Polish prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński and Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko were present in the Welsh capital yesterday along with a number sporting heroes from the countries including Poland goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko.

Joint effort
"This determination, this unity, the joint effort has been very visible over the last few months and both were visible yesterday during our presentation," said Lipiec. "Our offer was the only one that was headed by the heads of state, that is why we are very happy today, but at the same time why we feel as responsible as we do now. We see this as an opportunity to promote Poland as well as to boost economic development and also our image abroad."

Bids praised
Speaking to uefa.com, UEFA communications and public affairs director William Gaillard praised the three 2012 bids from Poland/Ukraine, Croatia/Hungary and Italy, and added: "I think hosting EURO 2012 is a tremendous prize for any country – and for sure, what was presented reflected the importance of such an event. We know Polish and Ukrainian players, they play in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League – we see them all the time. We know the passion [for football] that there is [in the two countries], and there will be tremendous enthusiasm - as always for a EURO - in 2012."