Day 10: 100,000 Poles and me
LFC TV's Matt Critchley is in Poland and Ukraine to bring us daily updates as 16 nations compete for the Euros crown.
Warsaw is feeling pretty flat this morning. This was supposed to be the day that they celebrated reaching the quarter-finals of the European Championships for the very first time. It was not to be.
I was one of nearly 100,000 in the city centre fan zone last night and what an atmosphere it was. Expectation was high, the support was fantastic. This is not a country perhaps recognised for its footballing prowess but its fans gave their nation absolutely everything. Unfortunately for them, their team could not deliver.
Every save their goalkeeper made was cheered like a goal itself, every shot they took greeted with screams as if they'd won the whole competition. They held up their flags in defiance at the end of the match - a sea of red and white a very familiar sight - but the Czech Republic had spoilt their party. They had to trudge home in the rain.
Happily there were only a handful of reports of any trouble. The local police should take great credit for their handling of such a massive event. An unexpected exit for Russia could have added fuel to the fire - a mixture of disappointed Poles and Russians sharing the streets, transport, local bars - thankfully there was no repeat of the unfortunate scenes that we witnessed here earlier in the week.
All credit to Greece as well - it's hard to see them going any further in the tournament but then didn't we all say that in 2004?
A big day lies ahead for the four teams in Group B - all four can still qualify and our best wishes go to Daniel Agger and Denmark. Whether, from a Liverpool point of view, he's better in the tournament or out of it and resting, though, is a matter of debate.