The FIFA World Cup Draws: The Russia Countdown Begins; Nigerians Hopeful As FIFA Holds Russia 2018 World Cup Draws

SportsPro reports that the FIFA World Cup trophy has a value of over US$10 million as of 2014. The trophy was sculpted by Italian Silvio Gazzaniga in 1971

This evening will bring us closer towards the 2018 FIFA World Cup as the Final Draws take place in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Final draw of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 - Nigeria is placed in Pot 4

The Guardian Nigeria report continues:

Courtesy of football website FCNaija, I am one of the few hundred journalists from across the world that will witness the event live inside the opulent State Kremlin Palace, the heart of the Russian state. The Final Draws will throw up the four teams that would play in the eight groups of the World Cup that would begin on June 14 and run till July 15, 2018.

The Draws would also reveal the stadiums and cities where the teams would play. Twelve stadiums in 11 cities will play host to the 64 matches of the 32 teams. Once the draws are completed, teams would begin to plan for their base camps and host cities.

These choices are made carefully because they will determine where the teams lodge for their first three group matches. They will fly from the base camp two days before each match day to the city of their match and return to the base hotel afterwards. Many teams would pick cities with warm climate and friendly people in order to maximize their opportunity to concentrate for the task ahead of them.

At Brazil 2014, Nigeria chose Campinas, a city less than two hours by road from the main city of Sao Paulo. Campinas had an international airport from which the Super Eagles flew to the cities where they played their three matches before they bid a final goodbye to the city ahead of their Round of 16 game in Brasilia. The people of Campinas, who also played host to the more popular Portuguese national team, were very welcoming of the Eagles that many fans showed up with placards proclaiming that they are Nigerians. Ahead of the tournament when some locals found out that Nigeria was going to make use of their city for training, they formed a group called Nigerianos desde crianca – Nigerians since childhood. They proved to be very passionate about the Eagles during that World Cup and welcomed many Nigerians into their city with open arms. A museum of Afro-Brasilian history also created an exhibit that explored the Nigerian roots of Brazil’s Candomblé religion.

Once the draws are over in Moscow on Friday night, one would expect the Nigeria Football Federation to select a base camp from among the many suitors that will offer promises of sweet experiences in their cities. Russia is a huge country, the biggest land surface area in the world. Yet, it has a population less than Nigeria’s due to the frigid weather in most of the country. Wide areas of the north are under-populated due to the endless wintry climate. Cities in the south are warmer with friendly people. It would be interesting to see which choice is made by the NFF.

The result of the draws would also throw many Nigerian fans into frenzy in the bid to purchase their match and flight tickets with group match venues now fully known. One of my sources in the hospitality market said that this frenzy would only last for about two weeks until April when sales would pick up once more. Nigerians like to plan late and so the World Cup will take a back seat for Christmas and New Year spending. With spending power having experienced a hit during the economic recession, only a few thousand Nigerians would eventually make it over to see at least one game of the 2018 World Cup even though many would wish they were able to make the trip.

Those who are not able to make the trip would be treated to an array of television programming and live matches of the greatest football spectacle on earth. The World Cup will make the world stand still for one month until it culminates in its grand finale on July 15 in Moscow’s majestic 81,000 seats Luzhniki Stadium. This match is the target of NFF boss Amaju Pinnick who has dared to state that Nigeria would win the World Cup.

But first, the draws take place tonight inside the Kremlin under the watchful eye of President Vladimir Putin, a man who is most famous for his judo and ice hockey skills than football. With the World Cup, Putin’s Russia would come under greater scrutiny by visiting international media. The media would find a lot to say while the rest of the world just wants to watch good football.

Russia has an opportunity to sell itself to the world and the countdown starts tonight. There are less than two hundred days to go to the four-yearly celebration of the grandest spectacle in world sport.

Nigerians Hopeful As FIFA Holds Russia 2018 World Cup Draws

The Guardian Nigeria reports that despite the assurances by team officials and players that the Super Eagles do not care the pedigree of any team they get in the Russia 2018 World Cup draws holding today at the Kremlin, Moscow, Nigerians are anxiously praying for a good group for their national team.

Nigeria is in Pot 4 of the draws, which means that the Super Eagles could be in the same group with any of the top rated teams, including Brazil, Germany, Spain, Argentina, France and England. But the Super Eagles’ Manger, Gernot Rohr is insisting that Nigeria will do well in any group it finds itself.

That self assurance is good going into such a competition as tough as the FIFA World Cup, but the reality is that being in a ‘Group of Death’ could easily see a team, no matter how tough it feels, exit the competition in the first round.

Feelers from Moscow indicate that today’s draws could topple whatever has been done previously in the final draws for the past 20 championships.

To start with, the Draw Ceremony is being held inside the State Kremlin Palace – the Parliament of the Russian Federation, which served the same purpose when the country was a much bigger, more intimidating Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Gary Lineker, who played in the 1986 and 1990 finals for England and scored in both competitions, will conduct the Draw alongside Russian star, Maria Komandnaya, with Miroslav Klose, the World Cup’s highest scorer, who netted across four finals in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, to be the trophy bearer.

The draw assistants are Laurent Blanc (1998 World Cup winner with France); Gordon Banks (goalkeeper of England’s 1966 –winning squad); Cafu (two –time winner with Brazil, also involved in the Final Draw for 2014 competition); Fabio Cannavaro (Italy’s 2006 team –winning captain, also involved in the Final Draw for 2014 competition), Diego Forlan (whose Uruguay won in 1930 and 1950); Diego Maradona (who led Argentina to victory in 1986, after they won at home in 1978); Carles Puyol (involved in Spain’s 2010 triumph in South Africa) and Nikita Simonyan (who played for 2018 hosts Russia in the 1958 finals in Sweden).

Speaking from the Crowne Plaza World Trade Centre, Moscow the morning after he landed in the Russian capital for the showpiece event, Rohr told thenff.com that there is no weak squad in the 32 –team field, and anyone hoping to play so –called ‘average teams’ in the group phase is only guilty of wishful thinking.

“All the teams that are in the Final Draw, except the host nation Russia, played qualifying matches. They all emerged from tough encounters and therefore, none can be tagged ‘weak.’

“In the next 24 hours, we will enter the State Kremlin Palace for the Final Draw and a couple of hours later, everyone will know their opponents. There is no apprehension. If you have to be listed among the best, you have to conquer the better teams and even beat some of the best.”

During the week, statistical analysis of the teams in the Final Draw revealed that Nigeria used the youngest squad to qualify for the finals, and 16 days ago right on Russian soil, the three –time African champions came from two goals down to flog two –time world champions Argentina 4-2 in a friendly game.

“We don’t see that as more than a friendly, but what we took away was the capacity of the boys to respond appropriately to adversity, and I loved their reaction,” Rohr intimated. The win brought back memories of Nigeria’s 4-1 spanking of the Argentines in another friendly in Abuja on the first day of June 2011, and the 1996 Olympic Final, in which the South Americans were outlcassed by the Dream Team.

“Seriously speaking, every team has the right to dream. But we have our heads on our shoulders and our feet on the ground, and whatever draw comes, we will take it one match at a time.”

Today’s final draw will start at 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (4pm Nigeria time).