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Not worthy of a thread - 2018 FIFA World Cup edition


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Man oh man oh man. Iranian men and women wearing shorts asking for directions to the nearest KFC. In front of a brilliant family Uzbek cuisine restaurant with some of the best meat dishes in town. Me hugging absolutely unknown people from Czech Republic because we all happened to root for Senegal. In a Belgian brewhouse. Our national team scoring an average of 4 goals per game and qualifying for  playoffs for the first time since Mexico 86. Me trying all of the fantastic homemade distillates in a brilliant Georgian joint with beef khinkali and mutton skewers that literally melt in your mouth. I can not quite put my finger on it. But I rather like this whole World Cup business.

 

Aussie fans telling great tales about their trip via Vladivostok, with one dude from Melbourne asking why that city was not hosting, since he loved it so much and could not stop munching all that Korean street food. Yup, there are actually more Koreans than Chinese living in that Far East port city of ours. Surprises a ton of my compatriots to this day, let alone those  visiting forrins. Spain fans literally spending days escaping the heat in Kazan’s craft beer joints and forcing chicken wings shortage in some of those. Polish lads ridiculing Colombians with their sarcasm and singing. The French looking like a group of consistently drunk homeless hipsters, always asking for places where it is ok to smoke herbs. And, by the looks of it, finding them. Da polis are full Glasgow mode in that particular regard, you have to do something downright incredible to warrant any kind of aggression or even attention on their part. Serbs being forced to drink with everyone in sight. Two English lads buying a whole bunch of ChakChak (famous local sweet) and running around and giving it away to Aussies. What a sight.

 

Man, I love that there is a goal every game at least. Awesome that.

 

Icelanders singing Kalinka. I would bet a fair price, none of those guys paid for a drink anywhere for the rest of the day. There was like 30k of them in a spanking new Zaryadye park next door to Kremlin, new records set for beer sales there. Those two guys driving a Niva, remember? Like thousands of replies via social media, with a ton of people ready to provide a place for stay and any kind of technica technical assistance, since that is some old vehicle.

 

Garteh Southgate actually being aware of the Stalingrad Battle, won a fair few sympathizers here. When in Paris, I always find a minute to have a silent respectful shot of something really strong on Rue Stalingrad, very personal place for a whole variety of family reasons. Pub quiz fun fact of the day - that Schmeichel header was still not enough for ManYoo to beat Rotor Volgograd over two legs in the UEFA Cup all those years ago.

 

Swedes invading Nizhny Novgorod, with my friend among those who tried to explain that Solyanka is a far superior soup than Borsch (no matter how brilliant) if you want to have a strong drink or ten during your supper. I was kidding about beer shortage, but several pubs there actually called in for extra supplies. Thousands of adorable Nordic alcoholics will force you to. A Chinese dude wearing Dynamo Moscow shirt near a train station there, absolutely astounded that my mate would literally chase him to take a photo for me, turned out to be one of those expat variety, proper canny choice of a club dare I say. Some jawdroppingly beautiful Korean girls visiting as well, quite a few are downright ridiculous even by our lofty standards.

 

Two boys from England ended up making headlines - one for punching a window in a train and ending up with a very severe cut. Newsflash - the glass used in our trains can handle anything from roasting heat to freezing cold, so the poor guy was a bit surprised at the damage inflicted on his arm. Was “visibly rather inadequate due to a large amount of consumed alcohol” as per transport police report. The other lad from the UK should thank his lucky stars that the tournament is not held in the US. Managed to nick a gun from a transport police officer attempting to calm him down while “being incapable of comprehending human speech” as per report and was arrested for obstruction of justice. The UK Embassy is dealing with both cases, both proud plastered heroes likely to be deported shortly. Huge events, individual drunk idiots making a name for themselves shocker. In fairness, England fans are by and large impeccably well-behaved, although a fair few bars and pubs in Volgograd probably had to call in for extra kegs after their visits.

 

Thousands and thousands of people watching Russia Egypt last night in the fanzone, with the city’s sizable forrin student diaspora making their presence felt. Flags from all over Africa, Asia and South America, just an incredible party really. As our cab driver brilliantly put it - looked like everyone was happily drunk on a wedding day. Reports of Egyptian students being kindly forced to join the drinking and singing madness after the match.

 

Will be in attendance for Spain Iran me, hope to see Iniesta in flesh. Local mosques report record numbers of worshippers from abroad passing by for a quick prayer. Predominantly sunni mosques, persians praying. Football, man. On a side note - Hillary Clinton was left gobsmacked when she discovered that Kazan’s main Orthodox Church and Mosque are next door to each other, and the local Catholic Church and Synagogue are both within walking distance without anyone among the locals giving a phook about it for generations, during her visit 12 years ago. Also, to avoid any potential religious bad blood, both the sounds of Orthodox church bells and the imam’s morning calls fo a prayer are kept inside. Love this city. More of a melting pot than quiet a few self-proclaimed melting pots.

 

Some of those Persian boys and girls (all wearing shorts) blowing those huge horns already. The Spaniards are much more reserved, but boy are they committed drinkers. Insist upon ordering bottle after bottle of the local pride and joy - Khanskaya Vodka. Tons of fans of smaller clubs (Cordoba, Valladolid, Granada, Mallorca, Alaves, etc) in Kazan, bars and clubs are buzzing.

 

I never had this much fun since high school. And that was some fun. Pure unadulterated filth, dare I say. Still pinching myself, like.

 

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