Poland picks designer for Euro 2012 stadium

Poland has chosen a German-Polish consortium to design its new national stadium, which will host the opening match of the 2012 European Championship.

Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki said Thursday that JSK Architects will design the new arena in Warsaw because of its experience in "more than 20 stadium projects" worldwide.

The stadium is to seat 55,000, and is scheduled to open in 2011.

Poland is co-hosting Euro 2012 with neighboring Ukraine and both countries face the challenge of building stadiums and upgrading dilapidated infrastructure.

Drzewiecki said he expected the stadium design to be ready in six months, and the ministry estimates the cost of the entire project to be 1 billion zlotys (US$408 million; €273 million).

A contractor still has to be selected to build the stadium, which will be located on the eastern bank of the Vistula River in the Polish capital.

The Euro 2012 final will be held at Kiev's redeveloped Olympic Stadium.

source: iht.com

Poland shocks Brazilians in opening-game upset

All the pre-game hype surrounded Brazilian teenager Alexandre Pato, but it was Poland that ended up showing off a young star of its own.

Grzegorz Krychowiak scored in the first half yesterday as Poland shocked heavily favoured Brazil in the opening match of the world under-20 soccer championship.

The 17-year-old defender scored on a sweeping free kick from about 25 yards out.

"He is one of our future stars," said beaming Polish head coach Michal Globisz. "I am very happy. This is the first time in 34 years a Polish team has beaten Brazil, and it makes it better to do it in such an important tournament."

Brazil, a team filled with potential superstars, was unable to pierce the disciplined defensive shell put up by Poland after taking the lead.

"We felt we had more chances than our opponents, but we weren't able to penetrate their defence," said Brazilian coach Nelson Rodrigues. "Obviously, (the players) are sad, but we will use this to become stronger."

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Germany beats Poland to win handball world champs

Poland lost 29-24 to Germany in the final of the men's handball world championship on Sunday in Cologne.

The Poles, who never came so far in the competition before, were behind 13-17 by halftime.

Polish president Lech Kaczynski, in Germany specially for the game, said before the match that he had "deep faith" in the Poles' success.

Asked if Poland's victory would harm Polish-German relations, Kaczynski said he was "convinced" this would not happen, the PAP news agency reported.

Kaczynski watched the game together with German president Horst Koehler.

Source: news.xinhuanet.com