Putin in attendance for Russian shutout
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — What Vladimir Putin wants, Vladimir Putin tends to get.
The Russian president made it a national priority to win hosting rights for the 2018 World Cup in a fierce FIFA bidding contest seven years ago.
On Saturday, Russia marched on toward hosting football’s biggest party when the rehearsal tournament, the Confederations Cup, kicked off in the $750 million new stadium in Putin’s native St. Petersburg.
Russia’s players duly delivered a victory their head of state had all but demanded this week by beating a poor New Zealand team 2-0.
But this was Putin’s show.
Arriving by helicopter close to the stadium barely 20 minutes before kickoff, he was soon installed in the main grandstand making a speech to launch the tournament.
“Here, on modern football arenas there will be tough, honest, fair fight until the last minutes of the match,” Putin said in Russian, adding that the eightteam, two-week event would “unite nations and continents, to promote the values of fair and beautiful play.” Is love in the air?
Both teams were lined up on the pitch for an unusual pre-match protocol, looking up at the VIP boxes to hear from Russia’s leader and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, before being able to complete their preparations. Days earlier, Putin had called for better results from the world’s 63rd-ranked team to impress the Russian public. Though 50,251 were in St. Petersburg Stadium that still left more than 10,000 empty seats.
“For us it is very important to make people in the country fall in love with the national team,” said Smolov, the 27-year-old FC Krasnodar forward who was named the game’s best player. ‘This mobilizes us’
Putin had also asked the players to perform like warriors, though they hardly needed to be war-like in dispatching No. 95 New Zealand, which seemed to find the world stage too big.
Russia’s coach suggested it was an advantage to have such a pep talk.
“When the president of your country comes out to make a speech this mobilizes us,” said coach Stanislav Cherchesov, a former goalkeeper who played for the national team before and after the fall of communism.
Russia’s win certainly eased the pressure on winning its second game, against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Moscow on Wednesday. The European champion opens its Group A program on Sunday against Mexico in Kazan.
Russia’s victory showed it can win a big game at home, even if Putin is in the arena.
A Confederations Cup trophy, never mind a World Cup title, might be too much to ask even for Putin, But Saturday was a start.