Russia rocks England

It would be wrong of me to pretend I'm a soccer fan of even the mildest persuasion, but who could resist going to see England and Russia in Moscow?

In the current political climate, following a spate of diplomatic expulsions and a polonium trail that stretches across Europe, the European championship qualifier this week took on a context that seemed to go well beyond the sporting.

Though he claimed he had a ticket for the game, Andrei Lugovoi, the man named as the chief suspect for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London last November with a dose of radioactive poison, didn't turn up.

He's standing for the Russian parliamentary elections in December, so any publicity might seem like a good idea - at least for someone standing for a nationalist-minded party.

Perhaps fearing the home team weren't likely to win, most other Russian politicos also stayed away - except for the country's prime minister, Viktor Zubkov. As it transpired, the rest of them misjudged badly.

In all honesty, the atmosphere and spectacle off the pitch was more interesting than the game itself.

Russian fans unfurled a huge flag featuring a growling bear, which they claim is the largest ever made. Beside the bear was the lonely contingent of England fans, held in a special decontaminated zone with empty seats to either side.

Though enormously outgunned in terms of numbers, they proved well able to hold their own in the chanting championships, with Russian fans only really getting warmed up in the second half when their team put England under some pressure and scored twice in a few minutes. Suddenly flares were lit and everyone was best friends with their neighbours.

As a Dubliner, I was trying to approach the game as a neutral, even willing myself to be kind towards England. But when Russia scored, I knew who I was really backing. Tribal instincts die hard.

When the final whistle went, Russian fans responded as if they'd won the euro-2008 cup, not a qualifier game. Clearly beating England mattered to the crowd as mcuh as to the ecstatic players.

Shuffling quietly from the stadium afterwards, England fans were clearly dejected. "It's been a great trip here, apart from the game, " said one, under the watchful eye of the Russian OMON riot police, who made sure the event passed off without too many incidents.

According to some seasoned sports reporters, the police presence around the stadium was enormous. I can't really compare because I've usually been inside stadiums for music concerts, not soccer.

As for Lugovoy, he says he watched from home.

Conor Sweeney is a Reuters correspondent based in Moscow, writing here in a personal capacity.