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Article: CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOC; Phoenix arises: The Orthodox Church of St Mary Magdalene in Minsk, one of the few remaining older buildings in the city which will host England against the national team tonight.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- October 15, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: CINDY BLAKE
SO, WHERE is this place? Rio Ferdinand, England's stand-in captain, might have asked the question as he and the team boarded the plane to Minsk for today's World Cup qualifying match against Belarus.
Without resorting to an atlas, many Westerners know about Minsk only because in the popular TV sitcom Friends, Phoebe's boyfriend went to work there. In fact, Belarus is in the very centre of Europe.
Bounded by Poland to the west, Ukraine to the south, Lithuania and Latvia to the north, and Russia to the east, it has a population of 9.7 million and is the size to Kansas. Until very recently, you needed a visa to visit, so, ...