Mood to started
THE grand edifice of yet another ornate holiday dacha peeks between the ubiquitous tall trees that blanket the region right the way to the sandy shore. Hidden behind wrought iron railings, it is just another summer getaway in a village escape from nearby St Petersburg, which is not yet buzzing but slowly stirring itself in anticipation of the summer months ahead when well-heeled visitors from the city will mingle with the carefree locals who stroll along the front deep into what should be night. Except that the sun has barely dipped below the horizon long after midnight, ready to make its return just a couple of hours away. A few restaurants sit serenely on the edge of the shore. Stroganoffs is the main restaurant of note and there is a single supermarket. Rumours circulate of a yet undiscovered night spot, but England players will quickly learn that Repino does not really have a “club” scene. So if Jamie Vardy really is going to be having a party this summer, England’s players will just have to create their own. And according to the striker himself, the club in question is Leicester in 2016. That Premier League win still seems as unlikely as, say, a World Cup success. Which is handy. Because Vardy insists the vibe around the dressing room and hotel corridors in England’s Russian retreat is very much like the one the Foxes enjoyed during their incredible heyday. “We feel more like a club side, particularly with the party atmosphere between us all as well,” he said. “That is how it should be. It is more relaxed compared to Euro 2016, to be honest with you, which is how we wanted to make it as a team; nice and relaxed and enjoyable, so you can have a laugh and a giggle. “Mood-wise, it feels like the excitement is building. Nobody is keeping themselves to themselves, everybody is doing stuff together. “Everybody is having a laugh. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, we are doing it as a group. That is how it should be. IN REPINO When you are enjoying it more, you play your best football.
“It is very similar to Leicester two years ago. We were exactly the same, very close, always wanting to do things together and having a laugh and a joke at training – although once we stepped over the white lines it was a different story.
“This has got that same environment and attitude from all the lads so if we put the work in on the pitch we shall just have to wait and see.”
Four hundred invited guests and 150 media personnel watched the opening training session on Russian soil but they quickly dissipated afterwards as all traces of the World Cup disappeared as quickly as they arrived.
Major cities and host venues with their fan zones are capturing more of the fever, although that should change even here once the games are shown in at least some of those bars. But for all the talk of boredom, England’s needs are simple.
“It is out-of-the-way and a bit quiet but everything has been accommodated for in there and the training facilities are up to scratch,” said Vardy. “That is all that we need.”
Even the media centre boasts a four-lane 10-pin bowling alley as well as pool tables and air hockey.
In the England team hotel, Jordan Henderson has established himself as the early front-runner on the tabletennis table, while in the main media hotel which virtually backs onto it, the contest is still wide open.
That is what people do in Repino. They swim, they jog, they play table tennis, they stroll to the beach, they relax.
With enough pressure surrounding the World Cup, why not try to avoid the competition during the off days?
Touchingly, the FA had even secretly arranged for players’ families to send in pictures of themselves so the players had familiar photographs already in their rooms as soon as they checked in. It all adds to the sense they are living in a home from home.
On Sunday they will be jetting off to Volgograd for the intensity of their first game against Tunisia the following day. In the meantime, preparations seem to be going just nicely. Whisper it quietly, though. We are still in Repino after all.
Everybody is doing stuff together