By the way, the football players are those for whom the season turned out to be too long. However, there are not so many complainers among those who came to Portugal as part of an official delegation from their country. Offhand, one can single out only the Russian Alexander Mostovoi, a 35-year-old veteran of the national team, who also managed to play for the USSR national team. His conclusions about the unsuccessful performance of the Russians in the opening match against the Spaniards, expressed by the Iberian media, seemed too free to "those who matter".
Mostovoi was struck off the lists and, it seems, handed a "wolf ticket" as a farewell. Apparently, the old Soviet mentality and the European understanding of life processes (Mostovoi has been living abroad and playing for foreign clubs for more than ten years) still differ greatly. Barracks regulations and padlocks hung on the mouths of football players - that, apparently, is the main recipe for success according to the Russians. However, they have not seen success for a long time.
Well, the other 15 national teams that arrived to participate in Euro 2004 have no business with the "mysterious Russians" and their petty-bourgeois concerns. The squad did not notice the loss of a soldier. On the last day of June, the first finalist of the European Championship will be determined, and on the first day of July - its opponent in the decisive match. It is time to sing the famous song about five minutes...
ENGLAND The end of June and beginning of July will be marked by one of the most famous and ancient tennis tournaments - the English Open Championship, also known as Wimbledon. The main draw participants started as early as June 21 (there was a place for three Ukrainian tennis players in it), and the decisive matches will be held on July 4.
A few days after Wimbledon, English fans will be able to get aesthetic pleasure from watching the next stage of the "Formula 1" World Championship. At the Silverstone circuit, free practice will take place on July 9, qualifying on the 10th, and the race itself on the 11th.
ARGENTINA This Latin American country is the southernmost of the four where the quarterfinal matches of the women's team tennis world championship, known as the "Fed Cup", will be held. The Argentine women will fight against the Russian women on July 10-11 in Buenos Aires. On the same days, the national teams of Austria and the USA will meet in Innsbruck, Italy and France in Rimini, and Spain and Belgium in Jerez de la Frontera.
BELGIUM On July 31, in the town of Heusden-Zolder, you can see the final stage of the II Athletics Grand Prix. It will summarize various international athletics tournaments that will be held in Europe at this time.
On July 2 in Rome and on the 23rd in Paris, the "Golden League" competitions will take place. On July 6 in Lausanne, the 17th in Madrid, the 26th in Athens, the 27th in Stockholm, and the 30th in London, the Super Grand Prix stages will be held.
Well, on July 9 in Kazan and on July 19 in Thessaloniki, the penultimate starts of the II Grand Prix will take place, the final line under which, as already mentioned, will be drawn in Belgium.
GERMANY In Stuttgart, on July 12, a men's tennis tournament of a good level will start (last year its winner was the Argentine Guillermo Coria) and with a decent prize fund - $614,000.
The third stage of the "Formula 1" World Championship in July will be held at the end of the month on the German track. The stage will begin on July 23 with free practice and will end on the 25th with a race for tournament points in the World Championship standings.
HOLLAND The town of Amersfoort will become the center of attraction for tennis fans in Holland from July 12. A men's tournament will be held here, which will be one of the preparation stages for the serious tournament in Toronto, starting at the end of July.
DENMARK In the capital of the kingdom, on June 29, fencers will begin their performances: the European Championship will be held in Copenhagen, which will end on July 4.
INDONESIA In Jakarta, starting July 16, the Grand Prix volleyball final will take place. Attention is drawn to the fact that tours to Indonesia are being bought up by our compatriots, because the Russian national team will perform at the competition, and its first opponents will be Japan, Cuba, and Germany.
SPAIN The world's best specialists in rowing will come to Spain to determine the best on the planet and will start the World Championship on July 27, which will finish on August 1.
ITALY On July 19 in Palermo, the women's tennis tournament of the fifth category will begin (prize fund - $110,000). One cannot expect a scattering of stars, but the absence of big names will be compensated by the presence of a large group of talented youth. For example, last year the tournament was won by the promising Russian player Dinara Safina, the younger sister of the much more famous Marat.
CANADA In Toronto, at the end of the month, the main event of July in the men's tennis tour will begin - the Masters series tournament with a prize fund of $2.564 million. A year ago, the American Andy Roddick received the $420,000 due to the winner. By the way, his opponent in the final "got" 210,000, and the participant who played only one match in the main draw - $7,940.
PORTUGAL After the second semifinal match on July 1, the pair of the two strongest football teams of the Old World will be finally formed. It is these two teams that on July 4 in Lisbon will have to play for first and second place. The 2003/2004 football season will be completed. And soon a new one will begin - with the matches of the Intertoto Cup (in this tournament, teams started playing as early as mid-June) and the early stages of the UEFA Cup. Among those who will enter the new season earlier than others, there will also be a representative of Ukraine - Mariupol's "Illichevets", which received the right to play in European cups thanks to the high individual coefficient of the "fair play" indicator - "fair game".
RUSSIA The far-sighted organizers of the Russian football championship calendar quite reasonably scheduled the first round after the break caused by Euro-2004 for July 3. In the European Championship final on July 4, the national team of our eastern neighbors, as they themselves not unreasonably assumed, would not have been able to get there anyway. It is only a pity that the pause for the Russian Premier League teams will somehow drag on for almost two weeks. After all, the Russian national team packed their bags on the evening of June 21 after the game with the Greeks, flew home on June 22, and the next round will only take place on July 3...
The World Synchronized Swimming Championship, which Moscow will host, will begin on July 22 and end on July 25.
USA In the United States, a whole series of tennis tournaments – men's and women's – will take place in July. Each of them will last a week. This "series" will begin on July 5 in Newport (men, prize fund - $380,000). The continuation will follow on July 12 in Los Angeles (men, $380,000) and Stanford (women, $585,000), then, on July 19, the women will move to Los Angeles (prize fund - $585,000). At the same time, men will compete for $600,000 in Indianapolis. And the line under the July tennis tournaments in the US will be drawn by the women's super tournament with a prize fund of $1.3 million, which will begin on the 26th in San Diego.
FRANCE Two events will start in this country within one day of each other, which, without any doubt, will draw the attention of sports fans around the world. The first will be fleeting, as befits a Grand Prix stage of the Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher and his entourage will arrive at the Magny-Cours circuit. It is not out of the question that already on July 4 (the day of the race itself; preliminary runs will take place on July 2, and qualifying on the 3rd) the intrigue in the championship, which was already barely breathing, will die completely. Or maybe the opposite.
And starting on July 3, cycling fans will eagerly follow the news from France. On this day the famous multi-stage cycling race, the Tour de France, will start. This time it will have 20 stages and a prologue, with the finish scheduled for July 25.
CROATIA From July 19 to 25, the Croatia Open will take place in Umag – a men's tennis tournament with a prize fund of almost $400,000. A year ago, its winner was the Spaniard Carlos Moya.
SWITZERLAND In the city of Gstaad, over the course of a week starting July 5, male tennis players will compete for a prize fund of $550,000.
SWEDEN At the same time on the Scandinavian Peninsula, in the Swedish city of Bastad, a less prestigious men's tennis tournament will take place with a prize fund of $375,000.
ESTONIA From July 3 to 4, the World Cup in Combined Events will be held in Tallinn. Simultaneously, the competitions will also be held in the Dutch city of Hengelo.