This competition needs one of its co-hosts to qualify for the knockout stage – the appetite for Polish success was palpable in the fans' park long into Friday night
The Warsaw National Stadium was bouncing at half-time during the opening match of the European Championship, the noise sweeping through a sea of red and white, save only a small pocket of blue, and reverberating across the city long after the final whistle.
While the mood had shifted at full-time, the joy of Robert Lewandoski's opener for Poland tempered by a frenetic closing period that yielded a Greek equaliser, the second red card of the game and a missed penalty, it did not take the home supporters long to find their voice again. They filed out of the stadium, across the river Wisla and into the centrum of the capital, horns blazing and drinks flowing.
The mood was comparable to when England were held in their opening match of Euro 1996, Alan Shearer breaking the deadlock at Wembley only for Switzerland's Kubilay Turkyilmaz to equalise with seven minutes remaining. Yes there was disappointment, but the overriding air was one of hope, qualification remaining a real possibility if a first-half display could be replicated for 90 minutes.
Pressure was on England and Terry Venables after that stalemate in '96 but they went on to record two victories and win the group. How Franciszek Smuda would love the same scenario this summer, yet after admitting that some of his players were "paralysed by the pressure" on Friday, it remains to be seen how Poland cope with the challenges ahead – Russia come next before the Czech Republic.
This competition needs one of its co-hosts to qualify. The last two major international tournaments, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2008 European Championship in Austria-Switzerland, did not see any advance past the group stage. One could argue that both tournaments lost that extra pizzazz in the process.
Before South Africa, no World Cup host had failed to qualify from their group in the post-war era, while prior to 2008 only one host nation had played no further part in the European Championship after the pool fixtures – Belgium in 2000.
Recalling the positive vibrations that swept across England in '96, the euphoric carnival atmosphere through Paris two years later, South Korea's charge to the semi-finals in World Cup 2002 and Portugal's final berth in 2004 – all these tournaments benefited from a strong host nation. Indeed, even in 2000 when the Belgians crashed out at the group stage, Holland made it to the last four only to be beaten by Italy on penalties.
Prior to the 2006 World Cup Germany were concerned that they were going to embarrass themselves, yet Jürgen Klinsmann led his side to the semi-finals and they have since gone from strength to strength.
There is no suggestion that home supporters completely lose interest in a tournament once their side has been inked off the wall chart, but are there any England fans out there who can say they watched Germany versus Czech Republic 16 years ago with quite the same passion as other games earlier in the tournament?
With co-hosts Ukraine celebrating a famous win in their opening game in the tougher Group D, alongside France, England and Sweden, they will fancy their chances of progress. Poland, meanwhile, have the opportunity to buck the recent trend and give their home populous some knockout football to enjoy.
Warsaw may still be rocking in two weeks' time whether Poland are still in the competition or not, but the appetite for success was palpable in the fans' park in the central square long into Friday night, during the Russia versus Czech Republic contest and beyond. As Russia took an unassailable 3-1 lead there were collective groans as the red shirts celebrated on the big screens, although the minority of Russian fans in the square were not treated with hostility.
Long gone are Poland's heady days of the 1970s but the hunger to at least gain a semblance of their former strength is inescapable in a capital city that endured a sorry history in the 20th century, both under occupation by Nazi Germany and the communist regime of the Soviet Union.
Their first-half performance against Greece was a joy to behold – the core of Borussia Dortmund players beating at the heart of a team who played with a slick, decisive cutting edge. However, their early domination made what followed thereafter all the more inexplicable, a complete meltdown and an abandonment of their previous attacking gusto.
That same meltdown did not stop the choruses of "Polska, Polska" echo around Warsaw deep into the night, though. The city centre is marked by a number of impressive buildings, but one stood out above all on Friday. The Orco Tower was illuminated with the bright images of the goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and the captain, Jakub Blaszczykowski, emblazoned with the slogan: "My time is now."
Szczesny got his timings all wrong against the Greeks, but Poland showed signs that a host nation can maybe keep the light burning into the knockout stages, for the good of the country and the tournament. Read More
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