Kevin Whitcher
Thursday 21st June 1pm (Riga Airport, Latvia)
My final day in Russia as a guest of Ivan Merc was the second ‘rest’ day of the trip, (six full days, four matches), although unlike the first on Monday, there was no 4.45am rise and domestic flight involved.
So a leisurely lie-in at Ivan’s idyllic summer house (or dacha) before he offered to drive me to Peterhof to look at a former summer house of one of the Czars, apparently designed by his wife, a German lady with the appropriate blue blood no doubt. It was a little bigger in scale than Ivan’s. Anyhow it was a drive that involved going over a road on top of a very long dam protecting St Petersburg before heading to the palace. We paid for access to the gardens, where the number of ornate fountains is the main attraction, had an enjoyable ice cream and a stroll around. The wind was up which meant more than once I had an unscheduled shower courtesy of being too close to the fountains. The bright sun soon dried me off and we headed back to watch the first of the day’s three matches.
I fancied a bet to motivate my interest, enjoying the involvement that Ivan had been feeling for the matches, so opted for a straight treble on obvious wins for Portugal, Uruguay and Spain. The games turned out to be far closer than the odds suggested, but by the end of the day, I’d made £80 profit on a £50 stake.
It was a bit of a quirk that all three games the day before featured more than 2.5 goals and yesterday (Wednesday), they were all under. The games themselves weren’t exactly feasts of football, but a lot was going on in the final one between Spain and Iran. My financial interest certainly coloured my view of how entertaining they were, as there was plenty of tension with the scores so close. At the end of the two games for those in groups A and B, we are left with the rather unexpected situation that Russia look the best team from them. Certainly, they made far easier work of Saudi Arabia and Egypt than Uruguay managed. Portugal at present look a bit shaky defensively and Spain seem a lesser creative force than the period when they were winning everything between 2008 and 2012. It might be a factor that then, a lot of Barcelona’s players were part of the team (winning the Champions League in 2009 and 2011), whereas now the bulk of Real Madrid’s key players are not Spanish.
Anyhow, in between the matches, I prepared my packing for an uncomplicated exit in the morning, and having a stroll around the garden at Ivan’s, where he relayed to me the problems they have with moles. I could see where they had dug up the grass. Mrs Merc cannot bring herself to kill them, so digs them out, puts then in a bucket and then releases them in a nearby wood, presumably unaware they will almost certainly immediately return.
I have to say that although I have slept okay whilst here, I do wake more than once during the period that I would normally describe as ‘deep sleep’ – the first four hours of the night, often wanting to go to the loo and more especially in the countryside. I think it’s something to do with how far north I am playing havoc with my system, and the sheer lack of real night-time. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I have to say there is something quite ethereal about the atmosphere in the air when the sun is down but there is no night sky.
Given this is the concluding entry of this diary – at least in terms of my being out in Russia – I need to cover a couple of things. First up, I mentioned the other day that at one remote venue, Ivan had heard that passports were being checked instead of Fan IDs – this turns out to not be the case, and that Fan IDs have been necessary at all venues. Next up, homophobia and racism. No reports of either from the locals, although the Mexicans apparently have a homophobic chant aimed at the opposition keeper when they take a goalkick. As for racism, in Kaliningrad, where one might assume that racism might be worse than the bigger cities, when Nigeria faced Croatia, everyone wanted a photo with the African fans. No sign of any ill will. I imagine that the reality of racism in football is more often seen in Russian games where fans will make monkey chants against either an opposition player or one of their own who is having a bad game. And I’d guess that the profile of a Russian attendee in the stadium for a World Cup game might be different from your average domestic game supporter. The general view is the atmosphere in the smaller cities has been something special, which makes sense considering that Moscow and St Petersburg are doubtless pretty blasé about visitors, whereas most of the other venues are simply enjoying being the focus for something a bit special.
So as a PR exercise, so far so good. The tournament seems, at least from where I have been, to be a success. I am amazed by the number of fans of the competing teams that are in the stadiums, which have generally had a fairly healthy attendance. I was interested to hear through Ivan that at the Egypt v Uruguay game, an Egyptian fan apparently had a ticket with no name on it, and a Fan ID that suggested he was Russian. As for getting around the Fan ID issue for a tout, because a lead member can change the names on his guest tickets (up to three), then they would have been able to buy four tickets and sell three – as long as the buyer had a Fan ID of his own – or obtained one after the names on the tickets were changed. So there is a way, but it certainly is not as easy as it used to be, and I have not seen a single tout actually offering tickets at any of the four matches I have attended.
It is my first visit to Russia. Undoubtedly, it has been a smooth process for yours truly because I have been in the company of a resident friend, but the reality is I probably wouldn’t have made the journey here, frightened off by the prices, were it not for that. Ivan said there were only estimated to be 6,000 England fans at the Tunisia game. From what I have seen, specifically Moscow and St Petersburg and the surrounds of the latter, there is reason to visit here, although some Russian language would be a great help to be able to make more of the experience. Some of the architecture is very striking, and the new stadiums all look top drawer, as you would expect. And the countryside outside of the cities looks inviting in places. A personal highlight has been the drive on the four lane toll road on the west side of St Petersburg, specifically from south to north, where there is a stretch over the river that looks like a funfair ride, visually stunning, and that’s before you pass very close by the stadium used for the World Cup matches. And the weather was pretty kind to me. Only one day with any rain, and we managed to avoid getting soaked in spite of it happening around the time we were headed for a match. Other than that it was generally sunny. Such a run of good weather is apparently something of a rarity in St Petersburg.
This morning we made the trip to the airport from the dacha in good time, and I said my farewells to Ivan. I know he’ll be reading this, so I’d just like to publicly thank him for his very generous hospitality. It’s never easy spending a week solid with anyone so to put up with yours truly for seven days deserves genuine kudos.
I’m currently typing in the airport in Riga on a four hour wait between connecting flights. I should be home for the 7pm kick off (9pm in Russia) between Argentina and Croatia, and a lovely dinner courtesy of the long suffering other half. News that the 2026 finals will be staged between USA (10 venues), Mexico (3) and Canada (3) has whetted my appetite, if for no other reason than that it has been a lifetime ambition to witness a match in the historical Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Still, let’s get this one, and Qatar in 2022, out of the way first. More from me on the finals after a few days on the couch, and some Arsenal reflections before that…
