Russia beats New Zealand in 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

The Russian national football team opened their 2017 Confederations Cup campaign by defeating the New Zealand 2-0 in Group A at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Hosts Russia started the goal into the 31^st minute of the match through defender Michael Boxall’s own goal in the first half.

Going into the second half, Russian forward Fedor Smolov scored another goal for the team with an assist coming from Alexander Samedov.

The game was played in the newly-built $1.4 billion Krestovsky Stadium that has 57,000-seat capacity. In addition, there are over 50,200 people in attendance who watched the game which includes Russian president Vladimir Putin and Legendary footballer Pele.

The Russian team is playing its next match against Portugal at Spartak Arena in Moscow while New Zealand is going to the Russian southern resort city of Sochi, where they are scheduled to play over Mexico at the Fisht Stadium.

Group A consists of Russia, New Zealand, Mexico and Portugal, whose squad includes Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. In Group B composed of Cameroon, Chile, Australia and the world champion Germany.
Meanwhile, FIFA president Gianni Infantino opened the match between host Russia and New Zealand with a speech inside the stadium.

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Photo Credit: fifa