Russia's Fedor Smolov celebrates scoring their second goal against New Zealand in the Fifa Confederations Cup match in St Petersburg, June 17, 2017.
Russia's president was in the $750 million new stadium in his native St. Petersburg to see forward Fyodor Smolov's 69th minute goal add to an own goal by New Zealand defender Michael Boxall in the 31st.
With three points, Russian Federation will next face Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Moscow on Wednesday.
New Zealand tried to play the ball out of defence but gave it away, and a couple of quick passes from Aleksandr Yerokhin and Poloz allowed Denis Glushakov to run through on goal.
Along with Team Russia, they will welcome teams from seven countries: New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico (Group A); and Germany, Chile, Cameroon and Australia (Group B).
After the New Zealand "All Whites" had cleared off the line several times, the breakthrough for the hosts came on 31 minutes when midfielder Denis Glushakov raced through into the box and chipped the ball over Kiwi 'keeper Stefan Marinovic.
The FIFA 2018 World Cup will be held on June 14-July 15 2018 in the cities of Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saransk, and Volgograd.
It helped the Russian team to seize the lead after twice having shots stopped on the line.
Since Brexit vote, Europeans warm again to EU
That's raised speculation that she will seek a softer Brexit by trying to win continued access to Britain's biggest market. Mrs May has said Britain will leave both the single market and the customs union.
"The fact the leader of the country came to the match is on the one hand an additional positive, but it is also an additional responsibility", Russian Federation manager Stanislav Cherchesov, whose team face Portugal on Wednesday, told reporters.
New Zealand did force Igor Akinfeev into a couple of relatively easy early saves, but Russian Federation took control of the match in the 31st minute.
The pessimism surrounding this Russian Federation side had been evident all week, but against the only team at the tournament positioned lower in the world rankings, the fans seemed primed to use it as an opportunity for rare positivity.
From Russia's fourth corner, defender Viktor Vasin's header saw the ball spin off a post and across the goalmouth before Michael McGlinchey cleared.
But it is also an opportunity for coach Stanislav Cherchesov and his side to show what they can do on the pitch, although they will face far greater tests in their next two outings than what New Zealand provided here.
Ten minutes before kickoff, both teams lined up in front of the main stand to listen speeches by Putin and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
"Here, on modern football arenas there will be tough, honest, fair fight until the last minutes of the match", Putin said in Russian, adding that the eight-team, two-week event would "unite nations and continents, to promote the values of fair and attractive play".
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