Special topic: picture channel
■ Tima and his girlfriend Elena.
▲ Russian fans in the stands held up white, blue and red signs from top to bottom, forming a spectacular Russian flag. This edition of photography correspondent Wu Kaishan, Austrian digital fax of this newspaper
■ Special correspondent Wu Kaishan, Austria, June 25 th
The Russians set off a strong whirlwind in the European continent, and Hiddink, the "magic coach", brought the Russian football team into the top four of this European Cup. After the elimination of the favorite Dutch team, the Russian team will welcome another powerful opponent, Spain, on the evening of June 26th, Austria time. On this evening, a large group of Russian fans will appear in the stands and shout loudly in the Ernst Hapl Stadium. Many of them, like migratory birds, have moved from one city to another in the past three weeks. However, migratory birds in nature migrate for survival and reproduction, while in football, "Russian migratory birds" follow their beloved teams and "move their nests".
During the interview, the reporter got to know such a "Russian migratory bird". His name is Tima.
Group match against Spain
I will never forget that national flag.
Tima is 33 years old. He was born near Moscow, Russia. After graduating from university, he went to Germany for further study and got a doctorate. Now he works in a physics research institute in Munich.
Tima is an avid fan, but his girlfriend Elena is not. When the reporter first met Tima and Elena in Innsbruck, Austria, Tima wore shorts, a Russian flag and a black baseball cap on her head. They both have black hair and black glasses. They both live in Germany and can speak English. They really look like a couple.
This time I came to Austria to watch the ball, Elena was purely "playing with tickets". She didn’t like football very much at ordinary times. This time, because she had never been to Austria, she planned to stay in Austria for a week and travel by the way. Tima specially asked the "boss" (actually his mentor) for leave, and must follow the Russian team to the end in the European Cup.
On June 10th, the first round match day of European Cup Group D, Russia played Spain in Innsbruck. Since the game didn’t take place until evening, Tima decided to take her girlfriend around first. Innsbruck is a beautiful mountain town, and there is a snow-capped mountain with an altitude of more than 2000 meters in the north and south. Tima and Elena discussed it for a long time, and finally went to Beishan. Tima’s reason is: geographically speaking, Russia is in the north and Spain is in the south. In order to win a prize before the game, of course, we should go to Beishan instead of Nanshan.
On the snowy mountain, Elena had fun like a child. She comes from Azerbaijan and now lives in Germany. She has never seen an ancient city like Innsbruck before. However, Tima seemed absent-minded on the side, and his mind was always thinking about the game in the evening.
Coming down from the mountain, Tima took Elena to the stadium without saying anything. You can see an endless stream of fans along the way, but most of them are Spaniards in red.
Their seats are in the north stand of Tivoli Stadium, diagonally opposite the goal. To Tima’s delight, almost all the people in this stand are his compatriots, and many people are waving small white, blue and red flags. During the prelude to the national anthem, a large number of Russian fans suddenly raised the cardboard with white, blue and red colors prepared in advance, forming a huge Russian flag. Seeing this scene, Tima’s tears brushed down. He later told reporters that this was something he would never forget.
Although the Russian team did not fall in the wind on the scene, it was quickly attacked by the other side several times and quickly fell behind by 0-3. Tima, who has been standing almost all the time watching the ball, shouted until her voice was hoarse, and finally felt physically and mentally exhausted by this time. Finally, pavlyuchenko pulled back a goal for the Russian team, but the Spanish team finally "knocked the last nail for the Russian coffin" by Villa in stoppage time.
When the game was over, the rain that had started before the game had stopped. Tima and several compatriots she met on the court were talking about the qualifying prospects of the Russian team, and Elena followed with a blank face.
Group match against Greece
All-night "meeting" nervous "preparing for war"
After the match against Spain, according to Elena, Tima and she stayed in Innsbruck for two more days. Elena likes this city so much that even if she sits in a street cafe and looks at the snow-capped mountains on both sides, she seems to be able to sit for a whole day.
On the third day, Tima and Elena came to Salzburg, the next venue for the Russian team. This is the place where the prototype story of the American film The Sound of Music takes place, and it is also the birthplace of Mozart, a great musician. Elena watched The Sound of Music seven times, but Tima didn’t, so he just took pictures of Elena in Mozart’s former residence and mirabel Garden mechanically with his camera. The program that Tima is interested in is in the evening. Sasha, whom I met two days earlier when I was watching the ball, found Tima and Elena as soon as it got dark, and took them to a bar by the salt river, which was full of Russians. The air was filled with the smell of vodka and beer, and it was deafening that everyone was familiar with Russian songs.
After finding the "organization", Tima excitedly exchanged contact information with everyone. The most important thing is that they should discuss together how to cheer for the Russian team the next day. Just like the team that is about to play the game, the fans have to "prepare for the war". The gathering didn’t end until 5 am. When they walked out of the pub, Tima and Sasha staggered and shouted to several figures in the distance: "The Russian team will win!"
Compared with the last game, the game against Greece is simply a festival for Russian fans. Chiyanov knocked on the goal of the last champion in the 33rd minute, and Russian fans instantly burst into a tsunami-like "Wula (Long live Russian, meaning victory)". Tima hugged Elena, jumping and screaming, and Elena shouted in Tima’s ear like crazy: "I think I’m afraid I’m beginning to fall in love with football …" Tima gave her a hard kiss on the face.
Greek fans are also fanatical and keep singing. However, Russian fans have their own cheering methods. Like other Russian fans, Tima, Elena and Sasha raised their hands above their heads and clapped their hands with the drums. The speed changed from slow to fast. At first, it looked like a gentle breeze and drizzle, and in the end it turned into a storm. The Russian team players on the field also seem to be infected. Facing the last champion, the Russian team’s state is from weak to strong, far better than the performance in the last game.
The Russian team finally won, and the next game against Sweden will be a life-and-death battle. Elena, who has "begun to fall in love with football", should go back to work after the holiday, and Tima’s "happy life" has come to an end, because he is only one person left now. He is going to stop staying in hotels to save money-what if the Russian team qualify?
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