Euro 2020. Training ground of Andriy Shevchenko's team and Ukrainian track of Arena National

17.02.2020 14:00

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At the Euro-2020, the participating team will only be able to conduct one training session at each of the Championship's home arenas, provided they have a match at this stadium.

Therefore, almost all the preparatory work of the national teams will be carried out on the fields they have chosen for their official training grounds. 

Base of the national team of Ukraine 

The arena for the national team of Ukraine named after the famous Romanian coach Angela Iordanescu will become the base. This stadium is located in the suburbs of Bucharest - Voluntari. You will not see a significant difference between the capital and the mentioned town, because it is a satellite of a big city. The local club holds its home matches in a small arena with a capacity of four and a half thousand spectators. Voluntari was founded only 10 years ago, now the team occupies the last, 14th, position in the elite division of the Romanian championship, League 1. However, the club has in its short history and bright pages - in 2017, Voluntari won the National Cup, and Romanian Super Cup. 

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Florin Chernat is the sports director 

Interestingly, the current sports director of FC is a former player of Kyiv "Dynamo" and the Romanian national team Florin Cernat, who finished his playing career in 2018 in "Voluntar". Florin assured that the acquisitions made by the club in the winter off-season should help to leave the relegation zone, and was pleased to show the working group of the national team all the facilities of the complex, which has the status of the official training base of Euro 2020. 

Three fields and a sauna in the locker room 

In addition to the main playing field, where the team will actually conduct its classes, there is also a field with artificial turf and another natural lawn of smaller sizes. The lawn of the main field should be in perfect condition by the time the blue-yellows arrive.

Both locker rooms are at the service of the national team of Ukraine throughout its stay in the tournament. It is convenient that the main locker room is adjacent to the gym, and also adjacent to the sauna. Therefore, on the appropriate days, the teams will be able to conduct recovery procedures at the stadium after training. 

The stands surround the field on three sides. The central "stand", which is characterized by a high tower, is quite compact, but successfully accommodates on its three levels and commentary booths, and a VIP box, and a platform for TV and video. In the context of training, the last moment is the most important in terms of technical recording. 

Arena Nacional 

At the National Arena in Bucharest, the national team of Ukraine will play its second and third matches of the group stage: on June 18 - with the winner of the playoffs of the League of Nations and on June 22 - with Austria. There will also be another group round match and a meeting of the 1/8 finals. 

The new stadium was opened in September 2011 on the site of the old multi-sport complex, which has long been named after Olympic track and field champion Leah Manoliu. The construction of the new arena cost more than 300 million euros. The maximum capacity is 55 seats, but during Euro matches the stadium will be able to accommodate about 600 thousand fans. 

National team, Europa League final and home for clubs 

Arena Nacional is primarily the home stadium of the Romanian national team and the venue for the National Cup final, although at various times it hosted not only three capital clubs in the capital, but also other Romanian clubs. It's very simple - there is no other stadium in Romania that meets the high standards of international matches. 

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The most outstanding football match in the National Arena was the 2012 UEFA Europa League final, in which two Spanish clubs met: Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao (the former won 3-0). This meeting was the first final of the European Cup held in Romania. Interestingly, the debut club season for the newly built stadium began with an event that can be called unique. During the autumn-winter of 2011/2012, three Romanian clubs played their home European Cup matches in this arena. Otelul from Galati played three Champions League group stage matches here, Bucharest's Rapid and Steaua played games of a similar stage in the Europa League, and the former army club also played a match in the 1/16 finals of the Champions League. The following European Cup season, the situation repeated itself - again, three local clubs played their home matches in a single standardized stadium. And in the future, as a rule, the two teams shared the arena in the European Cups. 

Ukrainian footprint 

Ukrainian clubs played twice at the Arena Nacional - and twice successfully, and even won with the same score - 2: 0. In August 2012, Kharkiv's Metalist defeated Bucharest's Dynamo in the qualifying round of the Europa League playoffs, and in December 2014, Kyiv's Dynamo defeated Steaua in the last round of the group stage of the Champions League. The national team of Ukraine has not played in this arena yet.

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Sister of the Warsaw People's 

As expected from the new stadium, the building meets all modern requirements for football matches of the highest level. Spacious locker rooms and coaches, a warm-up room, a large VIP box, a media platform, a conference room and a mixed area - all this is in the "service package" of "Arena Nacional". 

The architectural feature of the stadium is a movable roof, which can be completely closed. The construction of the structure, which works on the principle of an umbrella and is analogous to the cover on the Warsaw "People's", cost 20 million euros. In fact, the roof is almost never closed: during heavy rains it is not recommended at all, because the accumulation of water can lead to the destruction of the structure, and in sunny weather creates a greenhouse effect. Therefore, the membranes of the open "umbrella" form large shadows during matches during the day. 

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By the way, if you speak loudly in an empty stadium, you will feel a strong echo, while full, the acoustics only enhances the effect of pain. The arena is purely football, and real fans have every reason to hope to get the most out of it. 

Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi, press attaché of the national team of Ukraine