If Deyna's name was a reminder of better days for Polish football, the nuns revealed again the significance of Catholicism - not so long ago, Celtic's Polish goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, was known as the 'Holy Goalie'. There is a picture of another, Pope 'Jan Pawel II', on Gate No 2. Yesterday started a religious holiday across Poland that lasts until next Tuesday. In the middle of Gdansk you could smell the incense marking Corpus Christi.

What football fever there is felt on hold - Poland's primary sports star over the past decade has been a ski jumper called Adam Malysz  and domestically football has been in the doldrums for almost 20 years. Widzew Lodz were the last Polish club to reach the group stage of the Champions League and that was in 1996. Former sports minister Jacek Debski was murdered in 2001 by a bullet to the head, which preceded a destructive match-fixing scandal. Today, Poland have the lowest FIFA ranking of the 16 teams at the Euros.

Still there are arguments.  Grzegorz Lato, another famous name from the Seventies - 100 caps, 45 goals - is the FA president. He and others omitted Poland's eagle from their new kit. There was an outcry and a quick relaunch.
Jan Tomaszewski, another historic figure - Brian Clough's 'clown' from Wembley in 1973 - is a pundit and MP. He says he will not be supporting Poland because there are allegedly too many foreigners in the team.

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