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The Latest: Teams take field as World Cup kickoff nears

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MOSCOW (AP) – The Latest on the opening day of the World Cup (all times local): 5:09 p.m. Both teams have come out to…
MOSCOW (AP) – The Latest on the opening day of the World Cup (all times local):
5:09 p.m.
Both teams have come out to warm up at Moscow’s showcase Luzhniki Stadium as kickoff nears in the first match of the 2018 World Cup.
Players and coaches from Saudi Arabia and the host Russian side have gone out to loosen up and wave to fans in the 81,000-seat stadium.
The stadium is gradually filling up with an eclectic crowd including not only Russians and Saudis but many fans from various South American countries. Fans cheered as the sides were announced and came out of the tunnel.
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4:55 p.m.
The 38-year-old defender Sergei Ignashevich will start for Russia in the opening game of the World Cup against Saudi Arabia.
Ignashevich, who came out of international retirement for the World Cup, is likely to be part of a four-man backline after injuries forced coach Stanislav Cherchesov to switch recently from his preferred system of three center backs.
The Brazil-born Mario Fernandes starts at right-back, while Fyodor Smolov is set to be the lone striker.
Russia lineup:
Igor Akinfeev, Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kutepov, Sergei Ignashevich, Yuri Gazinsky, Alan Dzagoev, Fyodor Smolov, Roman Zobnin, Alexander Golovin, Yuri Zhirkov, Alexander Samedov.
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4:43 p.m.
Egypt goalkeeper Essam el-Hadary says he would be „the happiest person in the world“ if he plays in his team’s opening World Cup game against Uruguay on Friday.
The 45-year-old hopes to become the oldest player to compete at a World Cup. Colombia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon was 43 when he set the record at the last World Cup in Brazil.
Egypt coach Hector Cuper refused to confirm at his team’s pre-match news conference in Yekaterinburg on Thursday if he is going to use El-Hadary, saying he has 23 players available for the game. But the veteran was sitting next to him as the team’s captain.
Russia may be his last stop in an illustrious career spanning three decades and that took him to clubs in Switzerland, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, where he plays for Al-Taawoun.
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4 p.m.
The Spanish team has arrived in Sochi for its World Cup opener trying to leave behind the ordeal of its shocking coaching change.
New coach Fernando Hierro led the players out of the bus after their arrival at a hotel in the coastal city on the eve of their Group B match against European champion Portugal.
Hierro replaced Julen Lopetegui, who was fired Wednesday after accepting a job with Real Madrid without telling the Spanish soccer federation in advance.
Hierro and captain Sergio Ramos are due to face a news conference at Fisht Stadium later Thursday.
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3:32 p.m.
Egypt coach Hector Cuper says he is „very optimistic“ that Mohamed Salah will play in his team’s World Cup opener against Uruguay.
Cuper announced the development during a news conference in advance of Friday’s matchup.
Cuper said officials would continue to monitor Salah during their training session Thursday. But he said he was expecting his star striker to be on the field.
Salah had been questionable since suffering a left shoulder injury during a collision with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos during the Champions League final last month in Kiev, Ukraine.
Salah almost single-handedly led Egypt to its spot in the 32-team World Cup field. He scored five goals in six games in the first round of the qualifiers, including a late penalty that earned the seven-time African champions their first World Cup berth since 1990.
Salah will celebrate his 26th birthday Friday.
— AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower reported from Yekaterinburg, Russia.
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3 p.m.
Russia’s rival neighbor Georgia is denouncing the Kremlin’s decision to showcase the leaders of two breakaway regions at the opening of the World Cup.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia at Thursday’s opening match in Moscow.
The Georgian president’s foreign relations secretary, Tengiz Pkhaladze, told The Associated Press that „Russia is trying to use a sports forum to legitimize its unlawful actions.“ He urged the international community not to allow Russia to whitewash its actions.
Russia gained control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia after a short war in 2008. Russia recognizes both regions as independent nations but supports them financially and militarily, despite international condemnation.
Others expected at Thursday’s match include a senior North Korean official, the Saudi crown prince and some Latin American presidents.
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2:11 p.m.
The French football federation says it has set up houses for its supporters who traveled to Russia to back Les Bleus.
Dubbed the „Casas Bleues,“ for blue houses, they will be set up in the cities where France plays its group games, in Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Moscow.
The French federation says performances will be organized ahead and after the matches for the fans, who will also be provided with transportation to the stadiums.
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1:17 p.m.
Russian women and visiting World Cup fans: be fruitful and multiply.
After a Russian lawmaker caused a backlash on social media by advising Russian women against getting involved with foreign soccer fans, her colleague is urging love and procreation during the championship.
The state news agency Tass is quoting parliament member Mikhail Degtyaryov as saying on Thursday that „the more love stories we have connected to the world championship, the more people from different countries fall in love, the more children are born, the better.“
Degtyaryov is the head of a parliamentary committee overseeing sports. He said Russia is welcoming „fans from all countries, skin colors, all religions, all genders and all (sexual) orientations.“
Degtyaryov spoke after his colleague Tamara Pletnyova suggested that Russian women may end up rearing the fans‘ children alone.
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12:56 p.m.
Some workers in Moscow will mark the start of the World Cup with a day off in a push to ease the Russian capital’s notorious traffic jams.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin appealed last week to companies to give their staff time off „so they don’t end up in jams and there aren’t transport problems.

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