Putin leads plaudits as Russians celebrate an ‘ordinary miracle’
Shortly after hosts Russia dramatically knocked Spain out of the World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium here on Sunday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov released a congratulatory statement for Stanislav Cherchesov’s team.
“Before the match, around noon, the president called the coach and wished him well,” he said.
The president had not come to the stadium but Peskov revealed that Vladimir Putin had followed the match on television.
“Putin also noted that regardless of the outcome of the match, no one in our country was going to judge them,” he added.
The Kremlin had not revealed the reason behind Putin deciding to not be the ground.
Did he have prior commitments? Or was it the fear of losing, as Russia were expected to against Spain? Had it been the latter, the Kremlin’s expectations may not have been out of line with those of Russia’s football fans.
HEROES ALREADY
The national team had come far and, irrespective of the result against Spain, it would have been a reason to celebrate on Sunday.
Nevertheless, once Akinfeev denied Iago Aspas from the penalty spot in the tie-breaker to seal a quarter-finals berth, euphoria poured over from the Luzhniki Stadium to streets of Moscow.
In the post-Soviet era, no Russia team had reached the knockout stages, let alone the quarterfinals.
CLOGGED MOSCOW
Like after their win over Egypt, all major roads leading to and out of the Moscow city centre were clogged with cars, many of them honking to a beat accompanying the most famous chant of this World Cup – ‘Russ-e-yah!’
By 9pm, security had been significantly beefed up at the city centre. Police lined up as fans – many under the influence – took over the streets. There were a few Soviet flags visible as well as the party continued well into the morning hours of Monday.
NEWSMAKERS
Russia’s biggest newspapers, whose coverage of the national team’s campaign had been subdued until their qualification to the Round of 16, hailed the win.
‘Ordinary miracle’, the government-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote in its front page, accompanied by a picture of Russian players carrying the national flag.
The headline is based on a 1978 romantic movie by the same title. “Russia — among the eight best teams of the world,” its strapline read.
Isvestia went with a simple headline of ‘Keep it up!’ with a picture of Igor Akinfeev’s penalty save off Koke adorning its front page.
Akinfeev was on the cover page of Komsomolskaya Pravda as well. Its headline read, “Fantastic victory!”