9,000 fans attend Russia's open training session

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Moscow: Some 9,000 fans attended an open training session of the Russian football team at the CSKA stadium on Saturday, five days ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on June 14.

The training session was held on Saturday morning at the 30,000-seat capacity CSKA stadium and football fans watching the practice were allowed to enter the stadium based on personal invitations, which were distributed mainly among children from youth sports schools, reports Tass news agency.

Between May 20 and 31, the Russian national football team stayed at a training camp in Austria`s Neustift im Stubaital. The Russian squad played a friendly football match against the Austrian team on May 30 (0-1) before going home to play against Turkey in Moscow on June 5 (1-1).

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off next Thursday with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow between hosts Russia and the national team from Saudi Arabia.