"We have visited Moscow and the St Petersburg stadium and I can say that every technical detail there has been fine-tuned and we can expect one of the best competitions ever here in Russian Federation", said the Senegalese Fifa official. Meant to act as a World Cup preview, the Confedrations Cup is always an interesting look at the top teams from each confederation in the world, as well as the reigning World Cup winners and the host nation of the next World Cup.
World champions Germany and the champions from FIFA's six confederations are competing in the two-week tournament that will allow Russian Federation to test its soccer infrastructure in four of the 11 cities hosting World Cup matches.
Hosts Russia got off to a winning start at the Confederations Cup on Saturday, Fedor Smolov's second-half goal sealing a 2-0 win over New Zealand in Saint Petersburg in the tournament opener.
Russian Federation kicked off their Confederations Cup Group A campaign in style as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over New Zealand in St Petersburg.
"For Russia this is a great holiday, we have been preparing for it over the past several years". And we've took the full-scale measures to assure the event's security.
Bill Cosby feared being labelled 'dirty old man'
Cosby arrived at the courthouse Monday holding his spokesman's arm for support as he walked past dozens of cameras. Ms Constand refused the offer and reported Cosby to police, filing suit after prosecutors failed to file charges.
What is the Confederations Cup?
The 2017 Confederations Cup does sport video assistant referees who were on hand to review the penalty shout as play continued, but they chose not to pull it back despite some contact."As much as 44,000 tickets have been sold for the opening match in St Petersburg with 24 hours remaining before the kick-off", Samoura added.
The issue of hooliganism is a major concern for organisers after ugly clashes between Russian and English fans at the European Championship in Marseille last summer.
Russian authorities insist there is nearly no chance of a repeat as police have cracked down on suspected troublemakers with a barrage of searches, detentions and criminal probes. Nevertheless, at the moment the national team of New Zealand successfully performs in the qualification for the upcoming World Cup, having passed the third stage of selection without defeats and taking 1st place in Group A among the countries of Australia and Oceania.
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