Russians beat Poles -- in Euro fan friendly
In a goodwill gesture ahead of the Poland-Russia face off which some fear could be marred by hooligan violence, the fans played at a campsite in a northern district of the Polish capital at Tuesday noon.
"We want to show that the fans of different countries can take each other on in a friendly manner, even if they are divided by history as much as the Poles and the Russians," Jacek Kaminski, a Polish co-organiser of the game, told AFP.
"The game was meant to boost our morale, to motivate us before the evening game to throw in good support for the Russian team," added 30-year-old Mikhail Korzinkov hailing from Yekaterinburg in central Russia.
Sporting encounters between Poland and Russia always have an extra edge due to antipathy spanning the Tsarist and Soviet eras, stoked by Moscow's resurgence under President Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of Russian fans flocking to Warsaw were a cause for concern before the Group A game, in which Russia could secure a spot in the quarter-finals.
After the opening games, Russia are leading the group with three points ahead of Poland and Greece with one point each. The Czech Republic, facing Greece on Tuesday, lie bottom with no points.
Co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine the Euro 2012 championships are being held behind the former Iron Curtain for the first time. The games kicked off Friday in Warsaw ahead of the July 1 final in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
Youths clashed with police in central Rio as more than 200,000 people rallied in major Brazilian cities to protest the billions of dollars spent on the Confederations Cup and higher public transport costs.
George Clooney's former girlfriend Lisa Snowdon says they keep in touch via text message even though they are no longer dating.
Cricket fan Chris Newell kept his cool in front of a crowd of more than 16,000 at Trent Bridge on Wednesday to win £50,000 ($77,000).
