England football players disembarking from the plane on their arrival in Poland

BBC

The England football squad arrived in Poland on Wednesday for Euro 2012.

The party, led by manager Roy Hodgson, landed on a flight from Luton at 16:45 BST before heading to a base in Krakow, reports the BBC.

As England's group matches are all in Ukraine, they will be clocking up 5,000 miles to play their first three games.

Donetsk, the tournament's most easterly venue, will stage their opening and final Group D matches, against France on Monday and Ukraine on June 19, while Sweden await in Kiev on June 15.

England's 23-man squad, led by Hodgson and defender John Terry, met local children and signed autographs after leaving the plane at Krakow Airport.

Earlier, the players left the Grove hotel in Hertfordshire and called in at the car plant of sponsors Vauxhall on their way to Luton. They also posed for an official squad photograph.

"It will be a very difficult tournament," said midfielder Scott Parker.

"But that is what you expect because there are some strong teams.

"You never know. We have seen it this year with [Champions League winners] Chelsea. When you get to knockout football, anything can come up. With a little bit of luck, you never know how far you could go."

The team were taken to and from their flight in a coach which has the message: "One prize, two countries, three lions."

England's hotel in Krakow is next to a large medieval square and close to dozens of bars and restaurants.

A bugle is played on the hour - every hour - from St Mary's Church in the square.

"During the night, Krakow is a noisy city," said deputy mayor Magdalena Sroka.

"For sure it's not a peaceful and quiet and empty city. This is a city full of energy and full of life."

Hodgson has had little time to prepare for the tournament having only been appointed as Fabio Capello's successor last month.

The former West Brom head coach still boasts a 100% record having presided over 1-0 victories over Belgium and Norway in England's Euro 2012 warm-up games.

However, his preparations have been hampered by a string of withdrawals with John Ruddy, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill all having been forced to pull out of the squad due to injury.

Hodgson has also found himself at the centre of a row over Rio Ferdinand's omission from the squad, which the manager maintains was for footballing reasons.