For long, Russia has been looked upon as an aggressive nation. However, thanks to the ongoing World Cup fever, Russians are slowly but surely opening up to the rest of the world. "I want to shake the hands of fans from all over the world. I want people to stop thinking of my homeland as an aggressive nation," Yakov, a fan of local club Lokomotiv Moscow, infamous for its hooliganism and barred from attending World Cup matches here, told Moscow Times.

On the street, the Russians are very cordial and ready to greet you with a smile. However, on the football field, they have retained their aggressive tag having scored eight goals in two matches and qualified for the second round after a gap of 32 years. The team under Stanislav Cherchesov has won back-to-back matches at this World Cup — a feat they last achieved back in 1970, under the name of USSR.