Hosts Russia kick off the Confederations Cup against New Zealand in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.

Russia is gearing up to host the Confederations Cup, the dress rehearsal for next year’s FIFA World Cup, from June 17 to July 2.APresident Vladimir Putin expressed hope that hosts and underdogs Russia will “make our football fans happy” in the upcoming Confederations Cup.

“The team’s recent matches show that we have some potential,” Putin said in comments carried by state news agency TASS.

National coach Stanislav Cherchesov, however, was less optimistic in an interview last week with the DPA. “We are the absolute outsiders among the eight teams,” Cherchesov said. “We are the only team at the Confed Cup that has not won any other tournament to qualify, but we will do our best.”

Cherchesov hinted that world champions Germany or European champions Portugal were clear favorites for the Confederations Cup, which brings together the World Cup winners, continental championship winners and the next World Cup hosts.

It will be the first meeting between Russia and New Zealand, the champions of Oceania, in the post-Soviet era. The USSR beat New Zealand 3-0 at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Russia have produced mixed results since Cherchesov’s arrival with three wins, three draws and three defeats. They salvaged an impressive 3-3 draw with Belgium, but that followed a 2-0 home defeat to Ivory Coast; Russia’s first loss to an African team a and a humiliating 2-1 defeat to Qatar.

However results in recent friendlies aAa 3-0 win in Hungary and a 1-1 draw with Copa America holders Chile a have given the country’s football fans some hope.

New Zealand are appearing at the Confed Cup for the fourth time, although the All Whites are still hunting for a first victory in the eight-team competition.

Anthony Hudson’s side are through to the final round of regional World Cup qualifying and will play Solomon Islands in a two-legged play-off, but New Zealand suffered 1-0 defeats to Northern Ireland and Belarus in recent friendlies. Hudson though insists his players are raring to go in Russia.

“We’re 100 percent ready. We have a very, very good team, we have some good players in our team and the objective for us is to do something significant,” he said. “We’re very optimistic coming into this tournament.”

“There is no point in us being here if we’re not trying to win. The first game for us is Russia and we want to win that game. And we will go into the next game with the same mindset. We know they are strong but we have no fear of them.”

Enthusiasm in Russia for Confederations Cup

Russia, who are ranked 63rd in FIFA’s global rankings, are plagued with injuries; and at least five players have been ruled out of the tournament. The poor outlook appears to not have hindered Russian fans’ enthusiasm for the tournament. Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, responsible for sport in the country, said that Russians had purchased 90 percent of the tickets sold. In total, about 70 percent of the 700,000 tickets for the tournament are sold; the Russian organizing committee’s head, Alexei Sorokin, said this week. He described that number as usual for such a tournament.

“As far as the Confederations Cup is concerned, tickets are never sold out. In our case, tickets for matches involving Russia are in the highest demand,” Sorokin said in comments carried by TASS.

Foreign fans coming to Russia for the tournament are allowed to enter the country without a visa; and can stay for 10 days after the final on July 2.

The four host cities will also hold World Cup matches June next year along with seven other venues. Russia has been building and modernizing stadiums for the World Cup, with a budget of about $11 billion.

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