FIFA World Cup: The perfect guide to Russia 2018. Let your journey begin
From it's home at Rio to the champions of Portugal. The madness of Spain and it's way to Russia. The outbreak is here after 4 years of wait. Beginning today the FIFA World Cup is back. To smash and score. Get ready to be blown.
MOSCOW: The Russian Football Community has made a frequent appeal to the stakeholders and to the fans around the world to "shun negativity" and get prepared for the FIFA World Cup starting on Thursday.
Aleksendr Alaev, The Russian Football Unions director urged the football fans to ignore "some critical remarks" on the country being the host of the tournament.
The area will have concerts and entertainment for upto 25,000 fans as well as giant interactive screen for those without tickets to watch matches.
"The world cup will of course influence the future development of football in Russia because the children will see the atmosphere, they will see how the games are played and maybe in the future they would like to become (professional) football players" Alaev said.
Kerzhakov has represented the national team 90 times including two of his appearances in the world cup and two in the European Championship.
Russia is the lowest ranked team in the tournament. The host nation has lost 7 of the run up to the main tournament matches. And have failed to inspire confidence among the fans and the local media.
Kerzhakov however remained optimistic of the spirit shown to the host.