Russia salutes ‘heroes’ after Croatia ends World Cup dream

Russia's Denis Cheryshev celebrates scoring their first goal - REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters): The Kremlin dubbed the Russian national team ‘heroes’, and proud soccer fans saluted their underdog host team after the side lost on penalties to Croatia, bringing an end to its World Cup challenge at the quarter-finals.

Across Russia, hand-wringing fans had held their breath through extra time, hoping the team could pull off another upset. Russia entered the World Cup as the lowest ranking side, but reached the quarter-finals against the odds.

The disappointment of defeat late on Saturday soon melted into applause as fans toasted a national side that had repeatedly defied expectations. Fans spilling out of bars chanted “Russia,” dancing in the street and singing along as music blared.“Our boys, they really did great. A huge thank you to them for this tournament. What we achieved, that was so cool,” Andrey, a lawyer, said next to a street corner screen that had shown the match.President Vladimir Putin did not attend the game, but watched remotely, saying the players were heroes despite the defeat and the country was proud of them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited by Interfax.

“He watched, he was rooting for the team. We lost in a fair and great game. They are still great guys for us, they are heroes. They were dying on the pitch, we are proud with them,” Peskov was quoted. 

Russian roulette

Despite the result, street parties broke out in central Moscow in scenes reminiscent of the celebrations following Russia’s shock victory over Spain on 1 July. The Kremlin likened those festivities to images of celebrations after victory in World War Two.

“It was a great match. Well done to our guys, they tried very hard. I’m really happy that we made it to the quarters for the first time in history,” said Artyom Osadchy, a student.

Kremlin says Putin ‘proud’ of Russia team after World Cup exit

MOSCOW (Reuters): Russian President Vladimir Putin is “proud” of the national soccer team, Interfax news agency cited a Kremlin spokesman as saying, after Russia lost to Croatia on penalties in a World Cup quarter-final match on Saturday.

“(Putin) watched, he was rooting for the team. We lost in a fair and great game. They are still great guys for us, they are heroes. They were dying on the pitch, we are proud with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying.

Croatia will play England, who earlier beat Sweden 2-0 in Samara, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday.