The football watching atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City during the opening match of the Euro 2012 between co-host Poland and Greece last night was just lukewarm and not as lively and exciting as in previous seasons.

Football fans watch the Euro 2012 opener between Poland and Greece via 100-inch screen at a café on Ho Chi MInh City's Vu Huy Tan Street on June 9, 2012, Photo: Tuoi Tre

The District 1-based Youth Cultural House no longer organized a small fan zone where fans can watch Euro games via its 300-inch wide screen. In a similar manner, few customers crowded the football-café streets such as Phan Xich Long in Binh Thanh District, Bac Hai in District 10, or the Bui Vien backpacker quarters.

Local residents on streets around Phu Nhuan and Go Vap districts, who used to bring their TV sets out to the streets and watched and cheered in crowds, seemed neglecting the tradition this year.

Some cafés, though already modernizing their facilities with a couple of 100-inch screens to embrace the championship, shut their doors just after the opener ended with a 1-1 tie between Poland and Greek.

“We received few customers as the two opening matches were not really thrilling, and there were few football stars to watch,” the owner of a football-café on Vu Huy Tuan Street explained.

He, however, remained upbeat saying that the facility would be packed with football fans tonight, when teams under the ‘group of death,’ start their journey.

Netherlands meet 1992 European champions Denmark tonight at 11:00pm GMT+7, while Germany play Portugal 3 hours later.

Source: tuoi tre