Sports results are important for our vulnerable national feeling. You see, being Russian is tough: in order to be happy, you have to feel better than the others all the time, it is simply in our nature. Commonly we use great national sports results to feel satisfied with ourselves instead of focusing on personal achievements. However, we've never been proud of our soccer results: even though this sport is perhaps the most popular in Russia, we never succeeded in any significant tournament.


2008 © photo by The Pioneer (Detkov) @ FlickR

That's why when everybody noticed that Russia had chances at the tournament, people went crazy: over 500 000 went on the streets in Moscow alone. They'd celebrate the victory until 8am in the morning, hug and kiss each other on the street. The atmosphere was pervaded with the feeling of total love and unity: something Russia needs really badly right now.


2008 © photo by The Pioneer (Detkov) @ FlickR

It was not about the victory itself but more about an excuse to shed off all the problems and aggression and start smiling to strangers and just feel happy.

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