World Cup diary, day 8: Uruguayans make themselves heard but game disappoints

Mikhail Sholokhov, in his famous 1940’s novel “And Quiet Flows the Don”, helped vividly depict what life was like for Cossacks on the banks of the river Don, but fast forward to the 2018 World Cup, at the Rostov Arena, overlooking that same famous river, Uruguay fans brought their own modern-day brand of colour to Russia.

I had heard many stories about Peru fans running amok in Moscow, winning hearts and minds with their fervent support, Mexico fans going wild at the Luzhniki, but their Latin American neighbour Uruguay gave me my first glimpse, at this World Cup anyway, of the vibrancy fans from that part of the world can bring.

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The fatigue from my long train journey soon dispersed, as I headed to the Rostov Arena for Uruguay v Saudi Arabia, where sky blue shirts stretched as far as the eye could see.

After Sochi’s aforementioned stifled atmosphere, this was more like it. This was what I made the journey for. Everyone was embracing each other like they were best friends, but in reality had never met, volunteers were high fiving everyone for no reason, Russians to Uruguayans and back again.

It really was a feel-good atmosphere. The Rostov Arena is practically brand new, and cut a picturesque figure on the banks of the river Sholokhov. The scene really was set for a spectacle.

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The match was, somewhat inevitably, disappointing in the extreme. Uruguay got an early, rather fortunate, goal and took their foot off the gas, safe in the knowledge Saudi Arabia did not have the firepower to get themselves back into it.

Oscar Tabarez had done it again – three last 16 World Cup appearances in a row. Quite something for a nation of less than three-and-a-half million people. Fans adore him, with many dressing in teacher attire, in reference to his nickname, El Maestro.

We waited for a long time after the match to speak to Luis Suarez, to get his views on scoring the winner on his 100th appearance for La Celeste, but as soon as I uttered the word “Inglaterra”, in reference to who I was working for, he walked the other way. You win some…

With an early morning flight, I in fact did not bother with a hotel, instead leaving my suitcase at a colleague’s hotel. So, to kill some time, we headed straight from the stadium, around midnight, to a riverside bar.

The London prices did not go down well, but the Uruguay fans in there could not care one bit. They even took over the DJ booth, and played some classics from back home. The Russian locals could only look on in bewilderment.

Next stop Nizhny Novgorod – closed to foreigners throughout the Soviet Union era, and where Matryoshkas – Russian dolls to you and I – were first produced. Some really important games are on the horizon for me. Argentina and Croatia offers ups a tantalising first match, before England in in town to take on Panama. Now, for some broken sleep on the plane…

SLIDESHOW: The 32 star players for every World Cup nation (Click image below)