England receive surprise boost ahead of World Cup semi-final against Croatia
- @snhw_
This comes in direct response to Croatian centre-back Domagoj Vida, who published a video on social media alongside former teammate turned scout, Ognjen Vukojevic, in which they shout ‘Viva Ukraine’ and ‘this victory is for Ukraine’.
A gesture of provocation, perhaps, but the important fact is that it has angered the Russian people. FIFA warned Vida but did not ban him – however, the greater punishment will come to the advantage England will now have over the Croatians.
Speaking to English newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Yura Reizer, a member of the Spartak Moscow fan club, said that a “significant number” of Russians would now be supporting England on Wednesday.
Furthermore, prominent Russian blogger Yevgeny Potapoff, with over 100,000 twitter followers, tweeted “I'm rooting for England” in reaction to the video.
England will now almost be playing with home advantage in front of the 80,000 capacity crowd, all because of the foolish actions of one Croatian.
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