What to do while in Ukraine

Swathed in the red-and-yellow colours of Spain, hundreds of thousands packed central Madrid to give a hero's welcome Monday to "La Roja" — the national soccer team that erased the country's gloomy mood by winning the Euro 2012 Championship with such flair. With the celebrated team back home on native soil, it was time to party for a second straight night. King Juan Carlos and members of the royal family congratulated players at the Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid within hours of their returning from Kyiv, where they crushed Italy 4-0 to defend their title Sunday night. The Iberia plane that brought them to the Spanish capital bore the logo "proud of our national team." Team captain and goalie Iker Casillas proudly held the tournament cup as he emerged from the plane in Madrid with coach Vicente del Bosque. In the palace gardens, the king, Prince Felipe, his wife, Princess Letizia, and one of the king's two daughters, Princess Elena, chatted a...

Vicente del Bosque is primarily an organiser, a communicator and a father figure. His talents shouldn’t be underestimated – he’s won the World Cup, and did so because of some excellent strategic moves – but he is more concerned with creating a harmonious dressing room, and making the most of Spain’s cohesive footballing identity. According to him , Spain’s success has “foundations in many things – in the structure of our football, in the academies, and in better coaches.” He downaplays his own role: “When the players are good, the manager is good.” It’s his usual modesty, and it’s partly to deceive the opposition. But it’s also partly true. Prandelli is not dissimilar. He focuses upon getting his side to play a positive, attractive brand of football and avoids game-to-game switches based around the opponent. Granted, he’s changed formation completely from a 3-5-2 to a diamond in this competition, but in natural tactical terms, moving away from a three-man defence for the Ireland g...

KIEV, Ukraine –   And so they meet again at Euro 2012. This time, however, Spain and Italy are playing for the European Championship and a place in the history books. The Mediterranean rivals meet Sunday in Kiev's Olympic Stadium, three weeks after they drew 1-1 in their opening match of the tournament's group stage. As the defending champion and World Cup holder, Spain is bidding to win a third straight major title, cementing its place as one of the greatest national teams. It would also match Germany's record of three European Championship titles. Only the unpredictable Mario Balotelli and a surprising Italy team — orchestrated by Andrea Pirlo — stand between Spain and what many see as its destiny. Even Italy coach Cesare Prandelli reckons that Spain is the best bet to lift the trophy. "At the moment, even if I open my eyes, I am still dreaming," Prandelli said after his side's 2-1 victory over Germany in the semifinals, when Balotelli scored...

Portugal’s most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has missed the plane taking his team mates home from Ukraine after their semi-final exit at Euro 2012. "The organizers of the flight asked me if I wanted to sit in the tail of the plane. And I said: ‘yes’,”  Cristiano told the Ukraine-2012 information center.  “Sometimes I sit in first, second or third zone. But I agreed to fly in the fifth. Then I went to a cafe to buy a bun, and the plane took off without me. It's not fair! " Portuguese head coach, Paulo Bento, said that he noticed the absence of his star when it was too late, so Ronaldo had to spend several hours in the Donetsk airport.   "Buying than bun was a mistake,"  the Real Madrid player laughed. Portugal lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2012 semis, but Ronaldo is still leading the top player rankings at the tournament. The 25-year-old has scored three goals in five appearances at the European championships and was named the Man...

The court has sentenced for five days in jail FEMEN activist Oksana Shachko for screen capturing video of the central Fan zone of the capital of Ukraine Kyiv. Yesterday the activist managed to climb to 10-meter height of the central screen, fan zone and handcuffed to the construction. The activist was r emove  only after engaging  a special squad with climbing equipment. Femen has consistently opposed the organizers of Euro 2012 and  blaming UEFA in sex-alcohol-occupied Ukraine.

With the Euro 2012 in finish line w e will miss these German Babes in Bikinis  in Kyiv.  However, these German passport-carrying stars aren’t the only one. aly michalka:  Anne hathaway: Bridget marquardt: Heidi montag: Jessica biel: Stacy keibler:  

P OLAND-UKRAINE BORDER - The Euro 2012 football tournament is well underway in Poland and Ukraine.  It can take some 20 hours to cross between the two countries - so the co-hosted tournament presents unique challenges on the border as fans follow their teams from one city to the next.  With around 1 million football (soccer) fans expected to cross the Polish and Ukrainian frontier during the European Championship, border authorities on both sides are cooperating in a rare show of unity. Ukrainian guards check passports on Polish territory. Special lanes allow fans to bypass the normal traffic. Guards with the EU’s border agency Frontex are posted here to help out. Dutch police officer René Hugen is at the Medyka crossing. “The people are reminded, I think approximately 2 or 3 kilometers before the border, to choose the right lane so the delay for them will be as low as possible," said Hugen. Border guards are on the look out for human traffickers taking advantage of the simpl...