"They [Russia] had to start well in front of their home fans and they did", New Zealand captain Wood told Dawn after the match. Hopefully, the arena in Saint Petersburg will be a lucky venue for our team.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, as well as FIFA President Gianni Infantino, attended the opening ceremony and the cup's first game, which saw Russia beat New Zealand 2-0.
Russian Federation made a rapid start, with Aleksandr Golovin having a drive unconvincingly dealt with by New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, before the hosts were twice denied by goal-line clearances.
Scoring chances came early for Russian Federation, playing with confidence and unexpected flair, a powerful header by defender Viktor Vasin bouncing off the inside of the post before being cleared by New Zealand's Michael McGlinchey.
Organisers have laid fresh turf at the Krestovsky Stadium to allay fears over the condition of the pitch that prompted Zenit to shift their final league match to their former ground.
It's an worldwide eight-team tournament, played every four years.
But Russia have achieved mixed results since his appointment with three wins, three draws and three defeats.
As an independent nation, Russian Federation has never played New Zealand before and their first match will take place as the opener to the Confederations Cup.
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Germany face Copa America title-holders Chile, 2015 Asian Cup champions Australia, and this year's Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon in Group B.
Putin had also asked Russia's players to perform like warriors, though they hardly needed to be war-like in dispatching No. 95 New Zealand, which seemed to find the world stage too big.
Although the country will be without West Ham defender Winston Reid, who has a knee injury, Hudson says that his team will be able to cope without their skipper.
The procedure announced by Federation Internationale de Football Association allows referees to make a public announcement over discriminatory fan behaviour, temporarily suspend the game if the problem persists and completely call off the match if the behaviour does not stop.
"This is a young, exciting group of players and we're looking forward to a good campaign and everybody will be ready for it".
"There's no point in us even sat here if we're thinking in any other way". "We are talking with teams -don't do it". We knew they would come at us and pressure us. And we will go into the next game with the same mindset.
We try to make sure that there are no crowds.
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