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Russia Opens a Football Tournament. And the Football Tournament Opens Up Russia

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Russia Opens a Football Tournament. And the Football Tournament Opens Up Russia

20.06.2017

Sergei Vinogradov

The Confederations Cup has begun in Russia. The first game was played in a new stadium in Saint Petersburg. “Welcome to Russia”—with these words Russian President Vladimir Putin ended his speech at the opening ceremony. A Russkiy Mir correspondent experienced firsthand the warmth with which Russia’s “Northern Capital” welcomed foreigners and football fans from all over Russia.


Major Football on the Neva River

The Confederations Cup, which brings together the victors of all continental championships and the reigning World Cup champion, has commenced for the tenth time—and for its first time in Russia. What’s more, the Russian team is debuting in this tournament. Russian football players have only won the European championship once, and this was way back in 1960, when the Confederations Cup didn’t exist yet.

Photo by the Author


In Russia and abroad, the present Confederations Cup is being called a rehearsal for the World Championship, which will take place in Russia in the summer of 2018. Organizers, players, and fans have been given a chance to rehearse. Even more broadly, it’s a rehearsal for the residents of the cities where the games are taking place. For instance, how does one respond when someone asks in Spanish or French how to get to the stadium or their hotel?

The Confederations Cup is taking place in four Russian cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, and Sochi. In Petersburg, the “Northern Capital,” everything screams of the tournament: the streets, historical monuments, buses, and trams. Here, it’s hard to find a bridge where there are no fluttering blue rally towels for the Confederations Cup. The metro map has been remade with the help of fans: everywhere there are banners with the Cup’s logo and flowerbeds in the shape of footballs. Even the street signal saying, “Caution: Children,” with a little person dribbling a ball, has taken on new meaning these days.

On Nevsky Avenue, someone has pasted an advertisement for cheap hotel rooms (in three languages) right on the face of football star Cristiano Ronaldo. They must figure that everyone knows the Portuguese player’s face already, but finding a place to stay can be difficult.

The Confederations Cup has already increased the number of visitors to Saint Petersburg—a city that even without the tournament has never lacked for tourists—to about a third above the norm. (This is according to data for Internet queries for buying airline tickets and reserving hotel rooms.) And these fans aren’t hiding in their rooms but actively taking possession of the city on the Neva. Even a couple days before the tournament, one could meet fans from Germany, Portugal, Cameroon, Chile, and other countries. But there are an especially high number of visitors from New Zealand, who spent nearly 24 hours on the flight, including layovers. The majority of them have come for three days and in the course of their trip will visit not only the football stadiums, but also many of the other interesting locations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Photo by the Author


The volunteers in Saint Petersburg are no fewer than the police. And they can be found not only at the football sites. “Why are you here?” I inquire of a volunteer with the nametag “Egor,” who’s standing near the Kazan Cathedral. “What do you mean, ‘why’?” he asks in surprise. “We are helping visitors get oriented, giving them suggestions and advice. So far, Russian citizens are approaching us more often, but foreigners also sometimes ask us to translate some word or help them make sense of the metro map.”

A group of Mexican fans in green jerseys did not approach the volunteers but endeavored instead for negotiations at the highest level. The Mexicans petitioned an entertainer dressed as Peter the Great, who was walking amidst the cathedral’s columns, to play football with them for a photograph. But the actor was not about to risk his imperial prestige, and through gestures he explained to these visitors that he would get wrapped up in his coattails and stumble in his tall boots.


Zabivaka and Coulibiac

With the opening of the Saint Petersburg Stadium, built on Krestovsky Island, the Northern Capital has definitely gained a new tourist attraction. Resembling a flying saucer from the outside, on the inside it looks like the Coliseum. Add to that its unbelievable technical capabilities, such as a roll-out pitch and a removable roof. Petersburg weather is capricious, but the players and fans no longer have to fear rain. On opening day of the Confederations Cup, the stadium underwent its first test in intense heat and under a burning sun. (Last Friday turned out to be the hottest day in Saint Petersburg so far this summer.)

Photo by the Author


It is a couple kilometers from the metro station to the stadium. For a fan weighed down with a flag and a bottle of water, a stroll along a shady alleyway could only be welcome. But for the family of the Cameroonian fan Marcel, who had come to Russia with his wife and brother, it feels like a mountain crossing. They drag with them three enormous suitcases and carry under their arms sweaters and jackets, which, by all appearances, they removed along the way. “We misjudged,” explains Marcel in a mixture of French, English, and Russian. “We piled up our clothing, but it’s hot here.”

In general, from the names of cities on the flags one understands that all of Russia is represented here today—from nearby Vyborg to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (which could fit on the flag only after substantial abbreviations).

The opening ceremony turned out to be not only picturesque, but also informative: the four cities hosting the tournament were displayed to the spectators in theatricalized form. Inflatable model stadiums and a ship with scarlet sails drove out onto the pitch, and a gigantic sun shot upwards beneath the domes of the Saint Petersburg Stadium.

The ceremony and opening match showed that the wide staircases and large halls of the new Petersburg stadium easily accommodated even a sold out match without crowding and jostling. In the lobby fans could buy souvenirs and the team shirts for every country participating. They could also have a snack and thereby become acquainted with Russian cuisine. On the football pitch before the game and in the stands, fans were met by the wolf Zabivaka, the official mascot of the next World Cup. The menu featured the sonorously named dish “coulibiac,” with an explanation in English that it is “a Russian cabbage pie.” Foreign football fans will certainly take home a new Russian word, and maybe a recipe as well.

Photo by the Author


Mexican fans Gonzalez and Sanchez tried coulibiac and took six pieces to go. Usually, people travel to Russia from faraway countries as part of a tour group, but these two travel-worn football fans have flown just about everywhere following their team. “We flew from Mexico through Paris,” Sanchez told a correspondent from Russkiy Mir. “Why didn’t we stop in Paris? Because there’s no football there right now.”

Over his face, Gonzales wore a frightening mask with eyeholes. “This is a gladiator mask, that is, wrestlers wear it to fight, and football is also a battle, to a certain extent,” he says. “I only wear this mask in the stadium, not in the streets. Why? Russia is a good-natured, cheerful country. Here, all doors are open to someone who smiles. People reach out; there’s such attention to us. We didn’t expect this. To be honest, we learned about Russia thanks to football. We will certainly come to the World Cup a year from now. We’ve already even found a hotel and planned places to visit. I will be here with my frightening mask—don’t start without us.”

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