Gdynia goes green as 15,000 turn up to watch Ireland train
But, yesterday in Gdynia, it must have been impossible for the players not to feel like exactly that – not to mention the Premier League stars and, more importantly, the qualified Euro 2012 nation they genuinely are.
I spoke here yesterday about how almost every moment in Poland in the build-up to the tournament brings something that only deepens the realisation of what qualification actually means. That process took a quantum leap yesterday.
Ireland had arrived. In every sense.
I actually wandered up to the Municipal Stadium in Gdynia about two hours before the team, mostly to make the route from Gdansk known in order to save time in bed for the much earlier starts over the next few days.
In truth, I was expecting to just hang around idly waiting for the squad and media colleagues while hoping to leech free internet.
I certainly didn’t expect the circus I saw.
You could hear the noise a good kilometre away.
Just outside the stadium, there was an MC entertaining thousands of excited kids. To the right of him was a huge team photo of the Irish squad, which the kids could stick their head through and have their picture taken. (By my quick count, it was Paul McShane’s place they got to take. And I can't think of a single joke leading on from that sentence.)
Outside, there was a bouncy castle (although this, rather questionably, featured a half-submerged ship hull with the word ‘Titanic’ on it). In the sports cafe connected to the stadium, they were selling green beer.
And, all around, kids – and adults – were running about with Irish flags painted on their faces and wearing a variety of Irish-themed t-shirts. The latter was arguably the most surreal part of the day. Many locals – as far as I could gather – featured some very specific Irish motifs. There were Stuttgart references, homages to Kevin Kilbane and I could have sworn I saw one with ‘Pair of Hunts’ on it.
It was also interesting to speak to some of the locals about it. One man told me that this was the only real "experience" of the tournament he could get since match tickets were too expensive. As such, he made a point of coming down to see one of its teams.
Of course, for the assembled media, the most appealing part of the day was the cheerleaders... particularly when news spread that their ‘preparation room’ was right beside the press conference area. The identity of the member the extended press party who made that fact known will remain protected. As will the names of those journalists who “accidentally” went through the “wrong door” before uttering insincere apologies and turning to the rest of us with big grins.
One other journalist looking on gave a tut and a frown.
But, to be fair, it was probably the only one seen on the day.
It was a pretty special occasion in Gdynia.
And Ireland certainly felt like very special guests.
