Russians accept defeat, take pride in historic run

There were a handful of French and Uruguayan fans, who had stayed back in the city following their national teams’ quarterfinal game on Friday.

They joined in with the ‘Russia!’ chants with their hosts. It didn’t take long for the area to clear out though as a heavy security cordon escorted the crowd out of the area.

Then the fans poured into the streets of the city centre. Earlier in the day, heavy, incessant rains had ensured that most pubs in the area had to close down their openair sections.

By this time, the downpour had stopped and the open-air sections reopened just in time for the thousands of fans who had come over.

NATIONAL HEROES

Suddenly, there was a huge round of cheers and clapping outside one of these pubs. A closer look revealed the face of Stanislav Cherchesov on the TV screen. The national team coach had become a national hero within a span of three weeks and the adu- lation for him wasn’t going to die down anytime soon.

Earlier in the day, Russian ice hockey star Aleksandr Ovechkin had displayed the Stanley Cup he had won with the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League, at the FIFA Fan Fest in Moscow.

“Hockey is big. You saw Ovechkin on TV? People are mad for him and for hockey. But today nothing is as big as football and nobody in sports as popular as Cherchesov,” said Oleg, a middleaged Russian fan who had come to one of the pubs to drown his sorrows.

There was no western rock music playing at this pub unlike two days back when it had been the venue of a sing-off between fans of France and Uruguay. Instead, the Gosudárstvennyy Gimn Rossíyskoy Federátsii, Russia’s national anthem, played a few minutes later. The fans sang along.

Shortly after the game, the Kremlin released a statement on behalf of president Vladimir Putin. “We lost in a fair and great game. They are still great guys for us, they are heroes. They were dying on the pitch, we are proud with them,” he said.

It is a feeling that will echo among many of the host nation’s fans. As the hysteria of the World Cup starts to die down, the enormity of Russia’s campaign will start to truly register.

Brazil (1950), Sweden (1958)

Chile (1962), Italy (1990), Germany (2006)

South Korea (2002), Brazil (2014)

France (1938), Switzerland (1954), Mexico (1970, 1986), Russia (2018)

Spain (1982), United States (1994), Japan (2002)

South Africa (2010)

AFP Croatia fans were massively outnumbered in the stadium, but their team had one notable backer — President Kolinda Grabarkitarovic. “The boys were great,” she said. “I hope we will make it to the finals, the boys can do that, I see they are in a good...

GETTY IMAGES Fyodor Smolov (front) with Russian teammates at a Fifa Fan Fest site on Moscow's Sparrow Hills on Sunday.