the Wizard of Kharkiv

just took the photo above outside the fanzone in Kharkiv at 9 AM. Most of the fans are still sleeping. The calm before the storm?

on the way from my hostel to the fanzone, I met an old lady in the crowded subway. She smiled at me so I took out my Panini Adrenalyn XL trading cards and gave her the one of Shevchenko. She was so happy. She gave me some cherries from her basket. I am glad she did not ask me to trade my Chelsea-Gianfranco Zola shirt!



well there is an old Ukranian proverb: when you are in Ukraine, do what an Ukranian will do.

Here is a story about the Wizard of Kharkiv and how I apply that proverb.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a few days ago, I was in a sauna of a 5 star hotel and I met a man from Turkey (no pun intended).
He told me he was invited by the owner to come to watch the EURO games in Kharkiv.
I asked if he meant the owner of the hotel. He said yes. and he said the same man owns the local soccer club Metalist and the stadium and the airport...
We chatted about soccer a bit then he asked me about my experiences so far.
I gave him a postive report and then I told him about a little problem I have.

The day after the semifinal in Donetsk, I and 2 other friends (Robert and Maggie) have to get back to Kiev to catch a flight.

Our original plan was to drive the 10 hour journey.

Once I got to Ukraine, I decided that I do not want to drive Formula One style in the dark.

There is a train but it arrives in Kiev too late for my friends to catch their flight.

all airlines tickets were sold for that route on that day.

The Turkish man said to me 'go down to the lobby and speak to the concierge. He can fix all your problems.
He is a Wizard'

I followed the advice and the concierge, no I mean the Wizard, took my details and made a call.
10 minutes later. He said he found 3 seats on a flight from Donetsk to Kiev on the morning after the SF.

then the Wizard said 'cash only'

no problem. I went to the hotel bank to get enough local currencies to buy the 3 seats.

when I handed the money to the Wizard, he took it, counted it, put it in an envelop and said 'the tickets will be here in 3 hours. we have a nice steakhouse in our hotel. please enjoy.'

I asked the Wizard 'May I have a receipt please?'

The Wizard was offended.
then he recovered and smiled and said 'I am a concierge in a 5 star hotel in Ukraine, you can trust me'

I did not know what to do at that moment. then I remembered the old Ukranian proverb. do like an Ukranian would do.

I said 'ok'

3 hours later, just as Spain vs Italia was about to kick off, the Wizard came to me and handed over 3 airlines tickets. as he said he would.

I felt like Harry Potter and my friends Robert and Maggie are Ron and Hermione.
We have been saved by the Wizard of Kharkiv.

if you ever come to Kharkiv, let me know and I will introduce the Wizard to you.

how I (will) become a football club owner in Siberia

this is a story about a dreaMMM.

1. I made a new friend from Siberia inside the Donetsk stadium yesterday. His English was good enough. He told me of his favorite club in Siberia.
They are poor and had to sell 12 players off last week. He asked me if I know anyone in Suisse who likes to invest in soccer Siberia.
I said I think about it. Always a dreaMMM of mine to become Don Florentino Vu.
when he heard I can speak many languages, including Portuguese, he proposed I help him in WC 2014 and he will help me in WC 2018.
we shook hand to seal a bilateral agreement

2. it was hot and humid. at time England-France was like slow motion. at time, both teams played NOT to lose. Here is the view from my Category 1 seat.



3. there were a lot of neutral and non-local fans in the stadium. and there were lots and lots of russians. and many russians support England. when I asked my new Siberian friend 'why so many russians here. Russia plays in Poland?' he said 'Poland is in the EU and Russia is not so russians need visa and Polish makes it difficult for us to get visa. Ukraine is not in EU and Russia and Ukraine are friends, like USA and Canada. We need not VISA to enter Ukraine.'

3b. there were lot of empty seats as the tickets are too expensive for the locals. it was a buyer market for ENG-FRA and I had 3 extra tickets. but my sales techniques got me to sell all 3 at no loss in less than 1 hour.




4. Andy 'Sweet' Carroll 9 did not play. NOT even 1 minute.

5. I booked a private tent in Camping Park 2012, 30 minutes from city center. The instructions said from the fanzone, there is free bus to CP 2012. From stadium to fanzone, it took me 1 hour. crowded bus, and a long walk through unlit streets, a small park, a bridge over a big body of water (later I found out it is called First City Pond. and yes, there are Second and Third City Pond) and passed the old Shaktar stadium. but there were many fans around so I felt very safe.



6. at the fanzone, the friendly volunteers informed me there are no more free bus to CP 2012. hum. they said 'taxi'. I said 'nyet'. they said 'public bus number 10 to Golden Ring then change to bus 25 to Camping Park'. I said 'nyet'. I told them I do not speak ukranian nor russian. how do I say Golden Ring in their language? they said 'we go with you to Golden Ring'. Here is a photo of me and the super friendly volunteers in bus number 10



7. in bus 10, I met 2 drunken ukranian fans. they wanted to invite me to go drinking with them. I said 'nyet'. one of them told me to exchange shirts (like the slogan of UEFA). see photo of a new swiss fan in Donetsk?



8. at Golden Ring the volunteers found out bus 25 does not run anymore. there were some other fans waiting there for bus 25 so the volunteers negotiated with taxi drivers and I paid less than 3 EUR to share taxi with a russian couple for 30 minute ride to CC 2012.



9. AT CC 2012, I saw a big fence and the security guards in combat fatigue. there were also policemen and there were also a few guys with bullet proof vests. very safe CC 2012. I had my own private tent. I got in my tent before midnight. a big roar as the game ended and Ukraine won. the DJ played techno music at full volume for the next few hours. somehow I managed to fall asleep.



11. Perhaps I could fall asleep because my dreaMMM will soon be fulfilled. When I entered CC 2012 late last night, I met these sales ladies from MMM. Their company advertised that if you want to buy IPAD, go on expensive holidays, buy fancy car, own a luxurious apartment and you do not have enough money, MMM can help you. for a small investment, you will get interest from 10 to 75% depending on how long you invest (e.g. 200 USD invested will become 800 USD after 3 months. after 6 months, 1500 USD)

like this I can become Siberia football club owner sooner than later.

and I must inform my company Asset Management division.

Privit from the Don Bass Hotel in Donetsk where I am making some more new friends and looking for new businesses.

Monday in Donetsk

It is hot here in Donetsk. 33 C.
Met a local fan who speaks fluently russian, vietnamese and a little English in the train from Kharkiv.
He will help me selling the extra tickets of England-France.
Saw lots of neutral fans here for this game. Dutch, German; Danes, Mexicans, and many Russians.

also Canadians

and Mongolians.

Donetsk is a pro-russian city, compared to Kiev.
Hope the russian fans behave.
Hope for a great match. Like Italy-Spain last night.

Donetsk is a mining town but it has done a lot to make the city attractive. There are lots of roses planted everywhere, parks, and the new stadium is spectacular. I like very much the green spaces and the small pond around the stadium

but near the stadium, I could see the monument to the liberators of Donetsk (WW II) as well as the slagheap (hills of rocks and chemicals from the coal mines) that Donetsk was famous for.

When France takes the field later today, it will be the first tournament in 40 years that they do not wear an Adidas shirt. France switched to Nike when they were offered more than 300 mio Euros for a 7 year contract. This made France the best paid national team (in terms of shirt manfacturers) in the world.

in the meantime, Adidas shops in Ukraine are selling retro shirts of many teams, including France.

Will this french team inspire many fans to buy the new Nike shirts?

or will they make people nostalgic for the day of Adidas?

off to sell my extra tickets...

Sunday in Kharkiv

well I got woken up before 5 AM by a few Danish fans in my Hostel 4 of the Pedagogical University. they were up all night partying after the Danish victory and now they are on the way to Donetsk for England-France.

I have a private room at this hostel. It is clean, has wi-fi and the best part is I have very plush towels. but it is not a palace.

If you want to know which hotel is the best in the city, you follow the UEFA people who work at the tournament. that brought me to Kharkiv Palace Hotel. so luxurious.

so I am at this fancy hotel at 7 AM. Spain vs Italy will kick-off in 12 hours. they have nice big screen, air condition, big couch.

I was thinking, how I will last 12 hours here until kick-off.

all fancy hotels have a spa so I went there to inquire. for 40 EUR, I can use

their gym, swimming pool and sauna.

for another 40 EUR, I can get a massage for 60 minutes. the spa receptionist told me special russian techniques.

since she spoke English well, I asked her why there are so many russian fans here.

it turned out that Kharkiv is not far from the russian border, only 40 km.

Yesterday at the Denmark-Holland game, it was not just a contest between Danish and Dutch fans. from time to time, I heard one section screamed 'russ si a, russ si a' and a few middle fingers were raised and then another section screamed 'u cra i na, u cra i na'

Here are 4 photos from yesterday's match in Kharkiv.


Dutch snacks



spider stadium



the family of Dirk Kuyt



look at the empty seats!



The first 24 hours in Ukraine

Hello from the fan zone in Kharkiv,

Ukraine is sunny, cheap and very clean.

I feel like Eurovision Song Contest here as most locals only know to say

Hello Holland
Hello Denmark
Hello China

Ok I know very little Ukranian too

3.5 hours until Holland vs Denmark here.

UEFA has 53 members. the European Union has 27. and Schengen Zone has 26.

well Ukraine is in UEFA but not EU and not in Schengen so when I got to Munich yesterday for my connecting flight to Donetsk, I had to go through passport control. The German border guard took a long time with me.

He said 'so you were born in Vietnam, and you have an American passport, and you live in Suisse and you are going to the Ukraine?'

The Ukraine border control was easier. Actually the airport in Donetsk was rather empty. When I got to the tourist office at the arrival terminal, I saw a flyer advertising bodyguard services!!!

then I saw a nice 'Welcome to Donetsk' sign so I went up to a EURO volunteer and asked her to take my photo. her boss intervened and asked me 'why do you choose us to do this????'

that was an exception. most of the locals are very friendly even if they do not speak English.

Last night I took the new train from Donetsk to Kharkiv, 3.5 hours. first class ticket less than 29 EUR. clean, comfortable, fast, and loud. They had a TV showing russian films at maximum volume. there were
wi-fi and plug for the computers.

we arrived in Kharkiv around 11 PM. Beautiful train station and in front of it, a big screen showing the game and signs that the EURO is in town.

I am ready for EURO 2012!

EURO 2012 Preview

less than 48 hours before the start of EURO 2012.

the economic crisis has been grabbing the headlines in Europe for months now.
but I hope EURO 2012 will provide a month of relief and joy.

I am off to Ukraine on Friday for 10 days of first round matches. then I come home for a few days and then fly back again to the same country for the knock-out stage.

I am excited . I got more than 60 tickets for this tournament so I could choose which games to see.

of the 2 host countries, Poland has better infrastructure and probably a more interesting place for tourists.

but UEFA arranged the draw so that the rich countries (Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, France and England) play in Ukraine while the most of PIIGS (Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) play in Poland (exception is Portugal).

speaking of animals, Poland and Ukraine have different rules about what one can bring into the country. UEFA just sent me these rules and Poland allows up to 5 pets. Ukraine, on the other hand, allows 3 mammals, 3 birds and 20 fish.

so if I go to Poland for a match with my 4 dogs and then I drive over to Ukraine for another game, I have to leave one dog behind?

so much for european Union! Panini also is trying to destroy european Union.

for this EURO, they came out with different stickers for diffrent countries. for stickers sold in Suisse, the border is gold. those in German have purple borders and the rest of europe gets white.

well for me and my godson Jaronas, we have white border

I don't know if England will win this EURO but I will support them.When I am in the stadium next Monday for England-France, I will cheer hard for number 9 to score. That's Andy Carroll of Liverpool

and when he scored, I will sing...

hands,
touching hands,
reaching out
scoring goals
number 9

sweet Carroll 9, bah bah bah
scoring never looked so good!!
goals all the time, bah bah bah
just like Kenny said he would...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWKI7ML4Mg

come on Inger-land!

The Polish Inspection Part 3

I had a last minute business trip to Warsaw yesterday so I stopped by to visit the new National Stadium, where in less than 2 weeks, the opening match of EURO 2012 will be played.

The stadium is situated on the right bank of the Vistula river. Most of the tourist attractions, including the Old Town, are on the other side and are at a higher elevation. So there are many spots on the left bank where one has a spectacular view of the stadium.

After concluding my business, I went to the Warsaw Chopin Airport to fly back to Zurich. In the duty free shop at the airport, I saw this block of chocolate. Poland is ready for the EURO!

 

During the flight, I read that the European Union Court of Justice had just ruled against the Swiss chocolate company Lindt. For 60 years, Lindt has produced chocolate in the shape of a rabbit, wrapped in gold paper and a red ribbon. An Austrian chocolate company tried to make the same chocolate rabbit and Lindt sued and lost.

60 years is a long time. 56 years is also a long time.

The day before my trip to Warsaw, I was with friends in Basel to see the friendly match between Suisse and Germany. Suisse had not beaten their neighbor in 56 years. It was in 1956 when Suisse last won a match against Germany.

Germany is ranked second in the world and is a favorite to win the EURO 2012. Suisse is a decent team, ranked 18th in the world but did not qualify for this EURO. Most people gave the Swiss no chance.

well it was an amazing game. The scoring went like this: Suisse 1 Germany 0, 2-0, 2-1, half time, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, and the final score was 5-3. The stars for the Suisse were two players who played on the same team in the German League, Derdiyok the scorer of 3 goals and Barnetta who provided all 3 assists to Derdiyok.

They both played for Bayer Leverkusen and amazingly, both players were let go at the end of this season. May be they were very motivated on Saturday.

After the match, the German trainer of the Swiss team was diplomatic. He said, may be this is a good omen for Germany because in the last World Cup, Suisse beat Spain and Spain went on to win.

But another omen is bad. The last time Germany gave up 5 goals was in April 2004. It was a friendly against Romania and in Bucharest, the Germans were embarrassed 5-1 (quiz: who scored the only goal for Germany that day?). Germany then went to the EURO 2004 in Portugal and was eliminated in the first round.

Which German team will show up next month at EURO 2012?

Perhaps, a Swiss rabbit will tell us. Remember Paul the octopus from WC 2010? well now the Swiss figure skating champion Sarah Meier has a rabbit that will predict the winner of each EURO match.

At the moment, there is a contest to name this rabbit. Rabinho is popular. So is Saradona.

 http://www.blick.ch/sport/fussball/euro2012/hase/geben-sie-dem-hasen-von-sarah-meier-einen-namen-id1894809.html

Suisse may not qualify for the EURO but we have the rabbit that will decide who wins the tournament. And Austria better not copies our rabbit.

next week: my exclusive preview of the EURO 2012.

Answer to quiz: in that game in 2004, Romania scored the first 5 goals and in the 88th minute, a young 21 year old defender scored in his only third game for Germany. His name is Philip Lahm.