Croatia Footballers Train With Local Kids After Arriving in Russia for World Cup

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Students from a local children's sports school took part in the Croatian national football team's first training session on Russian soil ahead of the FIFA World Cup, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Croatia's footballers and coaching staff arrived in St. Petersburg earlier on Monday. Their base camp is located just outside Russia's second largest city.

Croatia forward Andrej Kramaric said that the team had great expectations from the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia and could achieve a lot at the tournament.

"We have great expectations from this tournament. Croatia has raised a strong generation of players. We need to reach the knockout stage and then, with a bit of luck, we will achieve a lot. Among our rivals, I would mention Nigeria as we will play them first, we need to have a good start. Everyone knows Argentina's strength, they are one of the favorites, a tough rival for any team," Kramaric told journalists.

✈️Off to Russia! 🇷🇺
🔥@FIFAWorldCup, here we come! 🇭🇷#BeProud #Croatia #Family #WorldCup #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/IBQyuxNlrL

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) 11 июня 2018 г.

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Zlatko Dalic's men will face Nigeria in their first match of the tournament to be played in Kaliningrad on Saturday, before also facing two-time champions Argentina in Nizhny Novgorod on June 21 and Iceland in Rostov-on-Don on June 26.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities. Croatia will face two-time champions Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria in Group D.