Polish town turns into meeting point for Belgian, English fans
of soccer fans have chosen Poland’s historic harbour city of Gdansk as a base ahead of England’s final World Cup group stage clash against Belgium in Russia’s Kaliningrad.
Gdansk, which was a host city for the UEFA Euro 2012 soccer tournament, is only 160 km (100 miles) from Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea coast.
“We’re getting a minibus from Central Gdansk to Kaliningrad the very first thing in the morning, then it picks us up after the game and we come back,” England fan Darren told Reuters.
“So we’ll just get in and get out on the same day, that’s the plan.”
Darren, from Leicestershire, who has travelled previously to the Copa America and the African Nations Cup as well as several European Championships and World Cups, said the tournament in Russia has been the most difficult to organise transport for.
According to Poland’s border agency, big groups of fans are expected to cross the Polish-Russian border on Wednesday night and on Thursday before the match.
Gdansk has a well-developed hotel infrastructure and is easily reached via a number of budget airlines -- in contrast to some Russian cities that are hosting games.
Some supporters pointed to costly airfares and accommodation prices in Kaliningrad and a lack of direct flights.
“Gdansk is cheaper to fly to,” said Alexander, from Bruges in Belgium. Kaliningrad’s Sovietera Khrabrovo airport has undergone extensive renovation for the World Cup.
GDANSK,POLAND:Thousands
This World Cup has shown that there are no ‘small’ teams. Panama did look somewhat out of their depth but don’t forget they came this far beating Costa Rica in the qualifiers and finishing above USA. So, after Nigeria gave Argentina a scare and South Korea ‘avenged’ the 2002 World Cup semi-final loss, I wasn’t sure how Brazil would fare.
Paulinho allayed my fears before Thiago Silva put the game to bed. What I love about Brazil is the quality of their defenders and the fact that they are so much more than Neymar. Tite’s team is