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Not worthy of a thread - 2018 FIFA World Cup edition

OzzieMandias

by OzzieMandias
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ElDiablo

ElDiablo

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Got the sticker album over the weekend and only just discovered that Kaliningrad is separate from the rest of Russia, lying between Poland and Lithuania.

 

My old housemate was doing his PHD on it, the history is very interesting.

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Fedyan

Fedyan

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Going to Samara for the last 16. Hoping Cosmos Arena really is as good as they expect it to be.

 

Make sure to visit the local cult bar Na Dne (literally meaning At The Bottom). A genuine all-time classic for anyone visiting Samara for football matters. Some people just go there, buy a barrel of beer, a bucket of crayfish and spend the day at the beach. Freshly-brewed lager, anything that swims in Volga is being smoked or salted on the spot and by all means (time permitting) take a river taxi to Zhiguli mountains. Quite a sight during the summer, although (depending on your age and party animal skill level, can cause severe memory loss, if you catch my drift). The riverside is fabulous when it's warm in May (the last time I went there), but the locals tell me it's just awesome when it's really hot (June/July). Many people fall in love there. Also, the traffic can be a bit mad in the evening (the thing with Samara and Volgograd is that they are basically hugging Volga and are thus kind of like Chile geographically), so use trams. Cheap, fast, cool way to take a look around the city and no cursing while stuck in a traffic jam. Feel free to ask regarding museums/restaraunts/nightlife.

 

 

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Fedyan

Fedyan

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Got the sticker album over the weekend and only just discovered that Kaliningrad is separate from the rest of Russia, lying between Poland and Lithuania.

 

My dad is actually from there, told me quite a few stories from his youth about closed sites where military were deactivating mines and bombs and his impressive bullet shell collection. Never been, but the city now has a reputation for boasting a whole bunch of street food vendors and brewers (aka hipster beer snobs). Also, Immanuel Kant's gravestone is there and one can buy really cool things made of amber.

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Flip

Flip

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Going to Samara for the last 16. Hoping Cosmos Arena really is as good as they expect it to be.

 

Make sure to visit the local cult bar Na Dne (literally meaning At The Bottom). A genuine all-time classic for anyone visiting Samara for football matters. Some people just go there, buy a barrel of beer, a bucket of crayfish and spend the day at the beach. Freshly-brewed lager, anything that swims in Volga is being smoked or salted on the spot and by all means (time permitting) take a river taxi to Zhiguli mountains. Quite a sight during the summer, although (depending on your age and party animal skill level, can cause severe memory loss, if you catch my drift). The riverside is fabulous when it's warm in May (the last time I went there), but the locals tell me it's just awesome when it's really hot (June/July). Many people fall in love there. Also, the traffic can be a bit mad in the evening (the thing with Samara and Volgograd is that they are basically hugging Volga and are thus kind of like Chile geographically), so use trams. Cheap, fast, cool way to take a look around the city and no cursing while stuck in a traffic jam. Feel free to ask regarding museums/restaraunts/nightlife.

 

 

:thup: Thank you, really appreciate it.

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Fedyan

Fedyan

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New stadiums opened in Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod over the last few days.

 

The first two hosted rather meh-ish league matches, but the reviews are good.

 

Kaliningrad was a big party, but Baltika are risking on missing out on promotion, so the mood is a bit mixed in the city.

 

Rostov was an even bigger party (Deep South, fun people and all that), but some dicks among the local ultras decided to try their best to remove the anti-vandal seats in Rostov, a few succeeded and posted their accomplishments on social media. No doubt, a few surprise visits from da polis await. Other than that, the Icelanders playing for Rostov were visibly impressed.

 

Nizhny had the epitome of a boring, run of the mill second tier match as a curtain raiser, and despite a paltry crowd (crap teams, hockey town, far more people willing to spend their time and money on watching Argentina and all), epic traffic jams ensued. Plenty of whining and complaining locals flooded the social media and talkradio, but the local police chief assured that this was a one-off and  they now have a good idea on how to avoid such congestion in the future. Truth to be told, like any major Russian city, traffic can get a bit crappy from time to time, but the new subway stations will no doubt ease the logistics. Will be in place before the tournament.

 

In other news, just for the fun of it:

 

- a fan of Luch Vladivostok travelled to an away second-tier match against Fakel Voronezh (brilliant name for an English-speaker, I know, literally translates as a Torch) which is a mere 9000 kilometers trip, and threw a toy cockerel in the direction of his side's manager. Oh, the horrors of modern football

 

- a third-tier match between two no-mark clubs was opened with a circus bear dancing a bit and giving the ball to the official. Judging by the attendance, the ecstatic public left right after the furry one, and who could blame them. The bear in question will participate in a few opening ceremonies during the World Cup iirc, so celebrity status awaits

 

- a group of Moscow hipsters and amphetamine enthusiasts (I base this assumption on their many previous "works of art") proudly presented the new Russian Premier League logo. An avalanche of jokes about brain damage caused by severe drug abuse followed. Never trust anyone who thinks that trainers mix with sweaters, neck tattoo and granny glasses any football-related project :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

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Kaizero

Kaizero

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- a group of Moscow hipsters and amphetamine enthusiasts (I base this assumption on their many previous "works of art") proudly presented the new Russian Premier League logo. An avalanche of jokes about brain damage caused by severe drug abuse followed. Never trust anyone who thinks that trainers mix with sweaters, neck tattoo and granny glasses any football-related project :lol:

 

RPL-2018-Logo-2.jpg

RPL-2018-Logo.png

 

That's a pretty nice logo tbh :dontknow: Sexier than the shit lion:

 

http://logok.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Premier-League-logo-2016-640x480.png

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Fedyan

Fedyan

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Saransk had an opening match in a new stadium with a very Sunlunesque atmosphere (their local club is treading water in our third tier), bet the players felt very awkward :lol: The ground is fine, but the question why add a city like that to the host list still remains. The definition of an ordinary provincial town, could name a dozen far more interesting locales. But, then again, even Middlesbrough hosted some Euro96 matches iirc, so who am I to say?

 

Yekaterinburg's second home game at the new ground was more fiery, a sellout with pigs bringing thousands and all, and ended up being a potential title-decider.

 

Volgograd's will open with a Cup Final on 9th of May, no less. The fact that the participants are basically the equivalents of an MK Dons (sans the hatred) and a Bradford City is irrelevant. Tosno (the club wasn't even in existence ten years ago) representing Leningrad Region (basically - huge territories around St Petersburg, they host their matches at Zenit's old ground and fight against relegation in their first ever season in the top flight) and Avangard Kursk are surely going to keep the FFP nazis from UEFA busy this summer :D

 

Samara will open its new stadium this coming week with promotion to the top division very close.

 

Spent hours waiting online, but managed to get another ticket to a last 16 match in Kazan. Exstatic at the thought and sad at the costs again. But we only live once, so who cares. Will end up boring a few bartenders with fascinating stories of doing an away trip from Moscow to Novosibirsk on my birthday, no doubt about that :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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