Day 5: LFC TV at Euro 2012
LFC TV's Matt Critchley is in Poland to bring us daily updates as 16 nations compete for the European Championships crown. Here is his latest update from the day England played their first game against France.
So England finally got their Euro campaign underway with a useful draw against France and Andriy Shevchenko showed us there is life in the old dog yet. But even though I'm at the European Championships, I couldn't have felt further away from the action.
With the games taking place in Donetsk and Kiev, both many hundreds of miles from my base in Warsaw, I was left to watch both matches on Polish TV. So what I can tell you is that the Poles think Glen Johnson was England's Man of the Match - that was one part of the discussion I think I did understand.
And to be fair, in a game without many stand-out performers, the general consensus is that Glen was one of the best of the night. Steven Gerrard worked tirelessly in the middle of the park and I was delighted for Jordan Henderson when he came on late-on.
Some people have questioned his first year at Liverpool but the England manager doesn't think it was too bad and for him to go from the stand-by list to a part in the opening game with France is testament to the hard work that everybody who deals with him says he puts in. I only know him from a media perspective but I can tell you he is always willing to do an interview if asked and is obviously desperate to make a good impression at the club. I hope he has a good tournament.
There will have been disappointment for both Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll but they'll undoubtedly have a part to play in the tournament. It seems clear that England are going to play on the break against most teams and Sweden and Ukraine will be tough nuts to crack.
The general feeling here last night was of happiness for Shevchenko for the role he played in Ukraine's victory. His spell at Chelsea apart, he is still one of the legendary goal scorers in European football and to re-create some of the old magic last night was obviously very special.
A date with Fabio Capello (more on that tomorrow) lies in wait for me today plus a trip back to the National Stadium here in Warsaw for Poland v Russia - it should be quite a night. The Poles are already on their way to the Fan Zone around the corner from my hotel as I write this - it's still 11 hours ahead of kick off! Now that is keen.
Many thanks for your messages re: my stolen passport and laptop. Sadly the police in Gdansk have yet to crack the case. But we live in hope. You can tweet me @mattcritchley1.