IT was always going to take something quite amazing to move England’s World Cup campaign off the front pages but the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis will surely take precedence, won’t they?
Or perhaps not with Prince Louis getting christened yesterday afternoon. Either way, the English team will soon be back at the top of the headlines, because England expects to win through to the final in Moscow on Sunday.
Tonight’s first semi-final match between France and Belgium is already being touted down south as the game to decide who England will meet in the final with tiny Croatia – population 4 million and change – surely just a stepping stone for Gareth Southgate and his boys. The biggest issue seems to be the rush by England fans to get to Moscow for the semi-final and – as they see it – the final, and that’s causing a major security headache for the Russian authorities.
For in order to get into Russia, supporters need either a special fan ID or a visa – the latter will take too long to process so a fan ID is really the only way to be able to travel to Moscow for either or both games.
An English newspaper has published details of how to obtain a fan ID by circumventing the system using old ticket stubs. The fear is that some of England’s hooligan fans of yesteryear may use the dodge to travel to Russia where tickets are said to be freely available from touts.
The official Foreign Office advice is this:” Match tickets are sold through FIFA or national football associations. Tickets bought through unofficial means may not be valid. Ticket touts or individuals caught with forged tickets are likely to receive heavy fines.”
Croatia meanwhile seem to be doing everything to encourage the English belief that they will be no match for England. Yesterday we reported that their team captain and star player Luka Modric was becoming increasingly engulfed in a perjury scandal back home, and last night the Croatian Football Federation sacked the national team’s assistant coach.
Ognjen Vukojevic, a vital member of the management team, was sacked for posting a video on social media following their penalty shootout win over Russia. Former international Vukojevic’s video with defender Domagoj Vida dedicated the Croatia win to Ukraine in reference to that country’s long-running conflict with Russia – probably not the brightest idea in the land of Vladimir Putin.
England’s FA has meanwhile stated that they will not provide an open-top bus tour if the team get beat tomorrow night.
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