Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara Prepare For Their Last 2018 World Cup Matches

On Thursday, the second consecutive World Cup day without games, stadiums in Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Sochi and Samara were preparing to host their last games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

MOSCOW, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2018 ) :On Thursday, the second consecutive World Cup day without games, stadiums in Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Sochi and Samara were preparing to host their last games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The Russian national team arrived in Sochi for the quarterfinal clash against Croatia on Thursday, after a morning training session at the team's base in Novogorsk, near Moscow. All team members took part, except Yuri Zhirkov, who continues his recovery and trains under an individual program.

Alan Dzagoyev, who received an injury during the World Cup's opening match of Russia-Saudi Arabia, said he had recovered completely and will be able to take part in the quarterfinal.

"Right now, everything's fine, today I trained with the others, and I'm ready for the game," he said.

The team arrived in Sochi on Thursday evening, and the city greeted them with festive illumination on the local tv tower, visible from various parts of the city. Near the hotel, the team was greeted by about 70 fans, waving national flags and chanting slogans.

Their opponents, Croatia, arrived to the Black Sea resort on Monday, the day after they defeated Denmark in the Round of 16.

Croatia shows maximum concentration The national team of Croatia also trained on Thursday, but at the Adler-1 training field in Sochi. Mateo Kovacic, who received a shoulder injury in the clash with Denmark, joined his team after recovery period.

Neither Russia, nor Croatia will train at the Fisht stadium where the quarterfinal game will be held. The decision was made in order to preserve the turf of the Sochi arena.

Dejan Lovren, a centre back for Premier League club Liverpool and the national team, said the Croatian squad demonstrates great football during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and expressed hope that his team will be at least third at this year's tournament, like it was twenty years ago.

"Our team is good now, the team remembers and honors the 20-year-old achievement. We work hard and we hope that we will be able to do something special, too," he said.

Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Chairman Arkady Dvorkovich believes that the Russian team will manage to defeat its opponents if it remains devoted and follows the head coach's plan.

"The most important thing is to fulfill the plan of the coach. We see that those plans work, all they need is to fulfill them. We believe in our players," he told TASS.

Kazan greets Belgium and Brazil The Volga area city of Kazan will host the highest-profile quarterfinal game - between Belgium and Brazil - at its Kazan Arena stadium on July 6.

Both teams arrived to the city on Thursday.

Upon the arrival to the hotel, the Brazilian team was welcomed by a crowd of about 500 fans, waving national flags, singing songs and beating drums.

Samara, Nizhny Novgorod prepare for last World Cup games The Volga area city of Samara will host a quarterfinal game between Sweden and England. The Swedish team arrived in the city on Thursday, while England still stays at its training base in St. Petersburg and is expected to depart for Samara on Friday.

Another quarterfinal game will be held in Nizhny Novgord, where Uruguay will clash with France for a place in the semifinal. The participation of Uruguay's star footballer, Edinson Cavani, is still under question after an injury in the Round of 16 game against Portugal.

"I don't want to take part in media games. You will find this out in 24 hours," he said. "We are not pretending, we just don't want to create any rumors," head coach Oscar Tabarez said.