The over 68,000-seat capacity stadium created to host the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches was laid down in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg in 2007.
Russia's president was in the $750 million new stadium in his native St. Petersburg to see forward Fyodor Smolov's 69th minute goal add to an own goal by New Zealand defender Michael Boxall in the 31st.
The second goal arrived 20 minutes before the final whistle, the goalkeeper of "Krasnodar" CSKA Moscow after a cross from the flank was scored on the empty goal.
The win against New Zealand was comfortable, and the team played some fluent attacking football at times.
This year's tournament is held between June 17 and July 2 at four stadiums in Russian Federation and they are Spartak Stadium in Moscow, St. Petersburg Stadium, Fisht Stadium in Sochi and the Kazan Arena in Kazan.
"The fact the leader of the country came to the match is on the one hand an additional positive, but it is also an additional responsibility", Russian Federation manager Stanislav Cherchesov, whose team face Portugal on Wednesday, told reporters.
"Fans and those who love Russian football expect better results from our national team", said the president.
Both teams were lined up on the pitch for an unusual pre-match protocol, looking up at the VIP boxes to hear from Russia's leader and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, before being able to complete their preparations.
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But a win is a win, and Russian Federation certainly needed one in front of President Putin after his insistence earlier this week that Stanislav Cherchesov's team had to raise their game as the World Cup looms on the horizon.
Shprygin, who was twice deported from France a year ago during Euro 2016, said he had been notified by organisers that his fan-ID, needed to attend matches, had been cancelled.
The championship game will be played on July 2 in St. Petersburg.
The hosts now take on Portugal on Wednesday after Fernando Santos' men have played Mexico in their Group A opener.
Russia's opening goal had an ugly finish after two pretty pieces of individual skill once the All-Whites defense needlessly lost the ball.
An own-goal from Michael Boxall and Fedor Smolov's second-half strike sealed all three points for new coach Stanislav Cherchesov's side as the tournament hosts impressed at the Krestovsky Stadium.
The tournament is traditionally used as a warm-up for the following year's World Cup and features the home nation, the winners of six continental tournaments and the reigning FIFA World Cup holders.
A Confederations Cup trophy, never mind a World Cup title, might be too much to ask even for Putin, But Saturday was a start.
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