The moment that Poles and Ukrainians alike have been waiting for ever since being awarded Euro 2012 five years ago, finally arrived last Friday.

With Europe's economy doing its best to find a series of lowest ebbs, football has been charged with bringing a tide of optimism to the beleaguered continent. While throughout Europe controversy reigns about the European recovery, there is a different element of controversy brewing in Poland and Ukraine. Will European fans experience a trouble-free Euro 2012 trip? Though it is certainly unjust to label most Polish and Ukrainian fans as hooligans, there is something uneasy about watching football in these countries.

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Despite a clear love of football, you will often see half-empty stadiums. Financial reasons play some part in this, but the real truth is that watching football in these countries can be an overly intimidating experience. Ukrainian, Polish and above all UEFA officials will be desperate to avoid scenes such as last year's Polish cup final, while one can only be concerned about what could happen outside the stadium.

The other major question is: Just how welcome will non-white European football fans be made to feel? Because of various historical and sociological reasons, Poland is an almost entirely homogeneous country, with over 98 percent of the population ethnically Polish, and I could count the number of non-white faces I saw in a 2 week stay in Ukraine on one hand. These are not cultural melting pots. This lack of exposure to other peoples matched with an overtly macho culture has led to numerous concerns about the damaging effect racism could have on the tournament. The first week saw the Dutch team seemingly the victims of such abuse in a training session. Sadly it will take more than a football tournament to eradicate these problems.



But away with the fears. Poland and Ukraine have plenty of positive things to offer, not least the beauty of the countryside and jewels such as Gdansk, Krakow, Odessa and Kiev.

And so what about the teams themselves? Well, Spain, the former perennial underachievers turned football giants, started out the tournament as joint-favourites. With a vastly-experienced squad, including players of the calibre of Iniesta, Xavi and Casillas, the Spaniards should feel rightly confident about their chances of retaining the trophy they won with such verve in Austria/Switzerland. That is, if they don't forget to shoot.



Joining Spain on many people's 'outright winners' betting slips are Germany, who, with their traditional efficiency and quality on display, will take some stopping. Mesut Özil should stand out in a team replete with quality.



France, Italy and Holland should be the other main contenders, though each of these teams has obvious weaknesses. The Italians could however turn yet another corruption scandal into a unifying theme and surprise us all.

And as for England? Well, let's just hope we can say at the end: 'The Roy done good!'

Any finally, some predictions:

Winners: Germany
Runners-up: Spain
Player of the Tournament: Iniesta