A couple of hundred Russian football fans descended on the main train station in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday for a chance to get their hands on the Russian Cup, which arrived in the city ahead of Sunday's final between Sibir and Zenit St. Petersburg.
The trophy traveled first-class from Moscow, but is likely to end up in St. Petersburg as the Russian Premier League leaders are expected to beat the side from Novosibirsk, who are joint-bottom of the table in their first ever top-flight campaign.
"The football cup comes to the Don for the second time, but this time as a guest. The first was in 1981, when SKA Rostov won this trophy," Rostov Region Sports Minister Valery Vacula said at the welcoming ceremony.
The cup final has traditionally been played at Moscow's main Luzhniki Stadium, and Vacula said the Rostov authorities had asked for its security detail to ease up to allow the around 200 people - mostly students from city sports schools - to see it first-hand and be photographed with it.
The trophy is new this year as the previous version was permanently given to CSKA after the Moscow club won the tournament for the fifth time.
ROSTOV-ON-DON, May 15 (RIA Novosti)
