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FIFA and Russian officials wanted to celebrate the best World Cup in history. Sportingly, Russia has come a long way. For the first time since 1970, Sbornaya managed to reach the quarter-finals. Until now, the excitement has come all over the country.
If the joy of the tournament was a little weak among the Russians in the days leading up to the World Cup, the atmosphere has turned into jubilation with the first victories. And he was still encouraged by the colorful carnival of foreign fans.
Almost overnight, the skepticism about the selection itself became an admiration, manifested in the cries of "Rossiya, Rossiya", "We put the country on his head, it makes us happy", said Cherchesov. "I did not expect the country to be involved in such an environment," said Alexei Sorokin, executive director of the organizing committee.
Almost no one will have observed this sporting patriotism with more satisfaction than President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader wanted some understanding between the people, to show the world the good hosts and the adorable Russians. The powerful performance of the Sbornaya, which did not even count the strategists of the Kremlin, gave even more taste to his project.
"Russia is still someone," one could summarize. Politically, atomic energy, with veto power in the UN Council, is no later than the 2015 intervention in the war in Syria, again one of the great actors on the world stage. Now Russia is doing well in football too.
And that the Russian exaltation seems forced for some observers. "Today, we are all football fans," said Aliona, 27, with the Russian flag painted on her cheek, during the festivities in Moscow. Until now, the girl was not interested in football.
The newspaper "The Moscow Times" found an explanation: "The Russians are not interested in football, but they like victories."
hide some dark aspects. Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Senzov has been imprisoned since 2014 for alleged terrorist projects and has been on hunger strike for weeks demanding the release of Ukrainian prisoners. The question was scarcely discussed in the Moscow press
. In the shadow of the World Cup, the government has announced a drastic increase in the age of retirement. There were demonstrations outside the stadiums, but the debate was lost in apolitical world patriotism. Anger could be downloaded later. According to polls, Putin's popularity values have dropped.
What will remain? Expensive stadiums, most of which will surely not be filled in Russian league games; infrastructure that will improve the quality of life in some cities and a Sbornaya that will enjoy a bit of success before critics return to the attack.
Expert Andrei Kolesnikov of the Moscow Carnegie Center believes that the World Cup will not have a long-term political effect. "It's just football, it does not bring democratic thought," he told the DPA. "This is the country that the Potemkin people invented," he said, referring to the story that the ruined houses of Russia were hidden behind beautiful facades in the eyes of the rulers.
Even when foreigners have had positive impressions, the Russians will not be freer for the World Cup, nor the police more friendly, he said. In the end, everyone will come back to its reality, "in the middle of another Putin mandate".
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Steps with heavy investments
Several cities in Russia will have to find solutions for stadiums involving an additional expense, for example, only the renovation of the arena in Yekaterinburg costs about $ 203 million. Maintenance costs have also skyrocketed, with local authorities asking the federal government for help. The most expensive is Samara ($ 8 million a year).
Russia will maintain a tense relationship
According to the experts, it will be the same disputes that will mark the strained relations with the West: the annexation of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine, the war. interference in elections in the United States. This reality will reach Putin faster than he will.
Tomorrow, one day after the final of the World Cup, he will meet the American President Donald Trump in Helsinki
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