This world championship will definitely go down in history.
Why Russia didn't actually lose the 2018 World Cup
On July 7, the Russian national team played with the Croats in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup. Even those who do not consider themselves a fan of football were watching this match for sure. Simply because this is a landmark event.
Despite the result of the game of the Russian national team, we will still be proud of our athletes and our country. And there are reasons for this.
We made it to the ¼ final of the FIFA World Cup
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This is a truly significant event. For the Russian national football team, this happened for the first time in history. The last time this happened was in 1970, when the USSR national team reached the ¼ final.
The head coach of our team Stanislav Cherchesov said that the athletes do not dream, but go to their goal. According to polls, 56% of the country's residents believed in Russia's victory over a team from Croatia on the eve of the match.
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In the ¼ final, ours fought to the last
The Russian team has shown itself in the match with Croatia very well. The game ended with a score of 2: 2, but the opponents won on penalties - 3: 4. Such an outcome of the game, as well as the fact that it was the Russians who would score the first goal, were not expected by many.
Our athletes have proven that they can play well and fight to the last. You can also be proud of this and believe that it will only get better in the future.
Our goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is the best
In the ⅛ final match, he was able to reflect eight shots on goal of our team. And in the penalty shoot-out, he very nicely repulsed two hits. This helped our move on.
According to the results of the Russia - Spain match, Akinfeev was recognized as the best player. The goalkeeper, according to the President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov, "has created a great sports miracle." Moreover, Akinfeev has already been offered to erect a monument.
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Thanks to the 2018 World Cup, unique projects have appeared
Renowned pianist Denis Matsuev has transcribed 61 goals from the World Cup finals from 1930 to 2014 to music. The authors of the project divided the goal into nine sectors and created a numerical sequence in accordance with the chronology of goals scored.
Matsuev assigned a piano key to each sector. The result is a unique "symphony of a goal".
We organized a really cool event
678 billion rubles were spent on preparing the infrastructure for the World Cup.
It was at the championship in Russia that the system of video assistance to referees was first used. This is a technology that allows you to make decisions in controversial moments thanks to video replays.
For the first time in history, the world championship is being held in Europe and Asia at once, at 12 stadiums in 11 cities. All of them received unique symbols associated with famous monuments and objects.
A large army of assistants was involved in organizing the championship.
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A huge number of guests came to us
The 40 millionth FIFA World Cup fan was recorded at the ⅛ final Sweden - Switzerland match. In total, more than 2 million football fans from different countries came to Russia. For some of them, the championship has become crucial.
For example, two fans from Morocco liked Kaliningrad so much that they decided to enroll in a local university.
A resident of Africa, being in St. Petersburg, was very worried during the match for the Nigeria national team and gave birth to a son ahead of schedule. The boy, who was named Ivan, feels great.
And three Swiss fans traveled to the Kaliningrad region on a tractor produced in 1964. They drove for 12 days, covered 1,800 kilometers at a speed of 30 km / h.
16 teams have already left # WCH2018 …
The interest in the guests of the championship was very great.
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We met the fans with dignity
And they really liked it.
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Some foreign guests were shocked by the behavior of the residents of Russia.
An English fan in Volgograd: “I don’t understand. The Russians are being TOO friendly. It's almost worrying. I was speaking to an ultras guy with Marseille 2016 tattooed onto his leg, and all he wanted to do was hug me.”
An English fan in Volgograd: “I don't understand. Russians are too friendly. It's almost worrisome. I spoke to ultras, the guy with the Marseille 2016 tattoo on his leg, and all he wanted to do was hug me."
Guests were given unexpected and pleasant gifts. For example, in Samara they were presented with jam and a “Wings of the Soviets” scarf.
This is brilliant? @HughWizzy and talkSPORT team arrive in Samara, and the locals come out to give homemade jams and a scarf from the local team.
And the Mexican fans got the opportunity to show themselves in all their glory.
Foreigners finally saw the real Russia
Many fans came to us with apprehension: they did not know what to expect. They were frightened even by hungry bears, who might attack them while spending the night in tents in the forest.
In the instructions for fans, there were some pretty funny tips: always clean your shoes, do not argue about politics, do not laugh for no reason, take off your gloves when shaking hands, do not drink tap water, never lick a knife, do not whistle in an apartment, and do not leave empty bottles on table.
But the reality turned out to be completely different.
Fans started learning Russian and loved our songs
According to Yandex, the number of requests with the words “translation” and “translator” in the cities where the championship is taking place has grown by an average of one and a half times. The fans asked how to say “Hello”, “Thank you” and “How are you”.
A fan from Panama fell in love with the Russian language so much that he got himself a tattoo.
Published by TATU SOCHI (@tattoo_sochi) Jun 20, 2018 1:45 am PDT
And many fans sang Russian songs with great pleasure.
Posted by Pavel Tarasov (@ pavelt2007) Jun 17, 2018 10:42 am PDT
The championship has its own myths
The World Cup has overgrown with its own legends. They concern foreign fans.
One of the myths is associated with the mass bathing of naked foreigners in the fountain on the embankment of Rostov-on-Don. It was allegedly arranged by the Uruguayans, Belgians or Portuguese. A video even appeared on the Web, which, as it turned out later, was a fake.
Another legend is that one of the fans came to the championship by bicycle, having covered 5,000 kilometers. Various sources attribute this achievement to a Saudi Arabian, Portuguese, Spaniard, Iranian, Costa Rican, Australian, and Argentinean.
Kokoshnik became popular again
The national Russian headdress has become one of the most popular at the championship. It all started with a photo of three fans in kokoshniks and hot dogs in their hands that got into the Web.
Photo toads immediately appeared.
A flash mob with a hashtag was launched on social networks. Brands modified their logos: they "put" kokoshniks on them.
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Now these hats are snapping up like hotcakes before matches.
Interest in Russia has grown significantly
Foreign fans discovered our country. They visited all the popular tourist spots. In Moscow, more than 40 thousand people rubbed their noses on the sculptures of dogs at the station "Revolution Square" - for luck.
While traveling around the country, guests were looking for what to see in the cities. The share of queries with the words "attractions", "where to go", "what to see" and the names of the cities that hosted the matches has grown significantly in search engines. For example, in Saransk there were almost three times more of them: apparently, this city turned out to be the most mysterious and unfamiliar for football fans.
Surely in the near future the number of tourists wishing to get to know the unknown Russia better will increase significantly.
… FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA ?? 2018.. … … 5 time champs Brazil crash out of WC. … … ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️. … # Fifaworldcuprussia2018 #human_in_geometry #fifaworldcup #fifa #street_storytelling #streetphotographercommunity #mobilephotography #fromstreetwithlove #heldcollective #burndiary #tea_journals #travelphotography #gramoftheday #lensculturestreets #instadaily #iphonex #life #ig_captures #natgeotravel #my_pixel_diary #weekendkawow #thephotosociety #thediscoverer #faces_of_our_world #epic_captures #nationalgeographic
Posted by Lopamudra Talukdar (@lopamudra) Jul 6, 2018 9:53 am PDT
If ever in Moscow, do take the metro, everywhere. Fast, safe, clean, and full of jaw dropping architecture and art. Not to mention, history at its best Revolution Square ?? … … … #photooftheday # russia2018 # mundial2018 # mundialrusia2018 #russia #Moscow #travel #wanderlust # WorldCup2018 #WorldCup #Globetrotter #Metro #architecture #architecturephotography #Cityview #cityscape #streetphotography #streetdreamsmag
Posted by Cynthia Dos Santos (@cyn_darling) Jul 6, 2018 8:34 am PDT
Como podem ver no meu histórico, não sou muito de postar as fotos dos lugares por onde passo. Mas não posso deixar de agradecer à Russia. Este foi sem dúvidas o lugar das pessoas mais apaixonadas pelo Brasil por onde passei nesses anos de viagem. Muito obrigado a tudo e todos. Essa viagem está sendo excepcional! Russian people, thank you for your hospitality, honesty and generosity. Brazil loves you! # russia2018 #worldcup #brazil
Posted by Giovane (@giovanesd) Jul 6, 2018 8:04 am PDT
5:25 AM - Moscú, tengo que admitirlo … Estoy enamorado de tus amaneceres, tu arquitectura y el ambiente que se vive! ☀️ Si hoy ganó Bélgica y celebramos hasta ahora, mañana si gana Rusia no me lo quiero imaginar !!! ?????? #alejoenRusia - - - 5:25 AM - Moscow, i have to admit it … I’m in love with your sunrises, your architecture, and the World Cup vibes! ☀️ If today Belgium won and we celebrated until sunrise, I can’t imagine tomorrow when Russia wins !!! ?????? #lifeofalejo Moscow, RU ?? | #Moscow #Russia #sunrise
Published by Alejandro Garrido | Alejo (@lifeofalejo) 6 Jul 2018 at 7:28 PDT
We can still truly unite despite any differences
The way the Russians celebrated the victory of our national team in the ⅛ final is impressive. Residents took to the streets, sang the anthem, chanted "Russia", hugged, congratulated each other. We have not had such a unity for a long time.
Take a walk, Russia! ???
All these are components of a very important feeling: pride in our country and its inhabitants, athletes and those who organized the championship. Never before has Russia been so interested in the world and has not sounded in the news of almost all countries. And this cannot but rejoice. Because this movement is only forward!
Everyone in the world is wrong. You can hang your head and lament about the next failure, or you can think and understand what are the reasons for the failures
