A humid St. Petersburg suburb played host to a tense battle between Belgians and Russians on Saturday—but this particular battle took place hours before the two respective national teams met in their first game of UEFA EURO 2020.
Indeed, it was amateur players representing the Belgian and Russian Fans’ Embassies who took to the field at Stadion Dinamo, home of PSC Dinamo, continuing a long tradition of so-called ‘fan friendlies’ at major international tournaments.
In the true spirit of cross-border camaraderie, the competing sides fought their way to an entertaining 3-3 draw.
Commenting after the match, Russia Fans’ Embassy coordinator Elina Erkina said:
“These kinds of games create a fantastic atmosphere of friendship and dialogue, not to mention fun! Fans play against one another and then drink and socialise together afterwards. We’re proud of our tradition of fan friendlies and hope to organise many more in the years to come.”
Take a look at some of the action below.
