It has been a wonderful ride, but the remarkable World Cup run that set millions of people dreaming across Russia’s 11 time zones is finally over. There will always be the memories, and if it had to end at all then at least there was one final glorious moment that no Russian fan present in Sochi on Saturday will forget for the rest of their lives. Perhaps the giddiest point of the host nation’s trip into the quarter-finals came here, when defeat was still not an option and Mario Fernandes headed an equaliser against Croatia in the 115th minute. The atmosphere in the ground had been electric all evening, every move up the pitch gaining volume as the match went on before reaching spectacular noise levels with Denis Cheryshev’s sublime opener. That goal, and Fernandes’ dramatic extra-time leveller, counted for nothing but the memories in the end – as Croatia went through 4-3 winners on spot-kicks. It was a cruel way to end it all, but in the wake of defeat it has to be remembered that these were thrilling moments nobody here had expected to experience.
The last time Russia – as part of the Soviet Union team – appeared in the last eight of the World Cup was 1970, and before the match two enormous banners appeared in the crowd. They read: “If not you, who? If not now, when?” At 21:00 local time, in a stadium facing the sun setting on a blue Black Sea, Russia were two victories from a chance to aim for the biggest prize in world football. Such prospects were simply unthinkable before the tournament. Russia had failed to win in seven friendlies. There was talk of them becoming only the second host nation in World Cup history to fail to reach the knockout stage. But then this incredible dream of a journey began with that 5-0 victory over Saudia Arabia on the opening night of 14 June. The TV commentators were screaming – “Five! Five! Five! Five! Five!” – as the camera cut to manager Stanislav Cherchesov’s mischievous moustachioed smile. Perhaps he always knew?
llya Zubko, a journalist who covers the national team for Rossiskaya Gazeta, did believe at least. “I’ve been around the side for a long time and always felt it did have qualities that perhaps had not been showed,” he says.”But Russia is a country whose football supporters tend to veer between extremes. Everything is either very, very good, or absolutely terrible. So of course nobody was expecting such a brilliant opening result.” Despite the huge win, there wasn’t anybody among the fans I spoke to in that first week who was settling in for the long haul.
In a country where ice hockey rivals football strongly in popularity, many still refused to accept it was anything more than a one-off. Some would only begrudgingly concede they might watch the next one against Egypt. I kept telling people: “You’re at home – that changes everything.” And when it did, again, eventually people began to agree. Egypt were swept away too, in a 3-1 win that meant a place in the last 16 was safe.
