Euro 2012 Diary: Not so Swede dreams

 

Friday 08 June 2012 23:15 BST
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Workers in Kiev were toiling around the clock yesterday to complete a campsite ready for the visit of 5,000 Swedish supporters this weekend.

Camp Sweden organisers found the venue uncompleted this week, while television crews showed unused building materials, protruding nails and unset cement in shower blocks. "If it was Sweden and we put a whole squadron of 500 people, it might be done in time," Camp Sweden organiser Ingo Soderlund said.

Dutch plan not to romp to final

Sylvie van der Vaart – wife of midfielder Rafael – has pledged her support of the Dutch squad's sex ban. "It's a shame ... but it's a sacrifice worth making for winning [the] Euros," she said. Netherlands were runners-up at the 2010 World Cup. Maybe we now know why they didn't have enough left in their tank come extra time.

Trunk call

After Paul the Octopus predicted winning teams at the 2010 World Cup, the notion of psychic animals has caught on.

Dutch Elephant Nelly has predicted victory for Germany tonight by slotting a ball in a Portuguese goal. Rumours Andy Carroll was at the scene taking notes remain unconfirmed.

Bunga over booze

One coach who appears happy for his players to indulge in some extra-curricular activity during the tournament is Poland's Franciszek Smuda. The free-loving 63-year-old believes bedroom activity is preferable to drinking. "It's better to have bunga bunga than to abuse alcohol," he said. "Alcohol just blows my fuse."

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