The 2018 World Cup has been held under “ideal conditions" and it is sad that the tournament is coming to an end after just a month, Russian lawmaker and former Russia head coach Valery Gazzaev told Sputnik on Sunday.
"The World Cup was held under ideal conditions... It was remarkable thanks to our national team's performance and thanks to the millions of fans, who came to the World Cup and saw our country. We've been living with the feeling of euphoria of a great football festival for a month and now it's sad that it's coming to an end," Gazzaev said.
He added that the World Cup helped to change the way Russia is perceived abroad.
"We saw how much agitation, false propaganda and groundless criticism of our country and the tournament in Russia there was. People got the chance to see with their own eyes that it was a lie. Look, fans are celebrating even today, they've stayed in Russia until the end of the World Cup, even the supporters of those teams, who were knocked out in the first stage," Gazzaev said.
The World Cup, which kicked off on 14 June will come to a close later on Sunday with France, who are looking to lift their second World Cup trophy, facing Croatia in the final at Moscow's 78,000-seater Luzhniki Stadium at 18:00 local time.
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