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Croatian star dealing with off-the-field situation

The Associated Press

MOSCOW — Here’s a look at what’s coming up at the World Cup, which is down to its last two matches: the third-place game today in St. Petersburg between Belgium and England, and the final the following day in Moscow between France and Croatia.

The title game is set for 11 a.m. on FOX. The third-place game is at 10 a.m. also on FOX.

To tell the truth

Croatia’s star midfielder Luka Modric might find it easier on the field than at the mic when he finally answers questions from the media today.

Modric was charged with perjury by Croatian authorities in March. The charge stems from his testimony at the tax fraud trial of a former executive director at Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamic. The 2017 trial concerned Modric’s 2008 transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham in the Premier League.

The political game

Leaders of several of the European nations that made it to the knockout stage have had a few good-natured exchanges over their teams’ encounters.

Now the politics are getting as serious as the soccer. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this weekend before attending the final, a game in which fans again are likely to jeer Croatian defender Domagoj Vida for his appearance in a pro-Ukraine video posted in recent days.

Putin is headed to Finland the day after that match to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who spent Friday being pilloried by protesters in London during an official visit to the United Kingdom. As that was happening, the U.S. was busy bringing charges against a dozen Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking into Democratic accounts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

And British leaders have essentially boycotted the World Cup over the poisonings of two British citizens and a former Russian spy and his daughter living in the United Kingdom, which British officials blame on the Russian government, a claim the Kremlin rejects. FIFA typically has enough trouble policing its stance on keeping politics out of the tournament, but for the next 48 hours, the two will be tough to disentangle.

Kick and carry on

Gareth Southgate and Roberto Martinez are looking for ways to motivate their squads for the third-place match between England and Belgium.

Really, really looking. For Southgate, it’s about continuing the maturation of his young England side, which exceeded expectations by getting this far and even had the lead on Croatia for much of its semifinal before falling in gutting fashion on an extra-time goal.

Securing England’s second-best finish at the tournament would be nothing to sneeze at, either, said Southgate, who wore the England shirt himself and never reached the title game. For Martinez, it’s about salvaging “that winning feeling” despite the disappointment among players and fans of a team that had been a fashionable pick to win it all until it failed to score against France.

Those sales pitches will be tested by the product on the field, but also by how many fans show up and tune it to watch what historically has been a lackluster prelude to the final.

Sad start, happy ending

About 60 Nigerian men who say they entered Russia on the pretext of being World Cup fans camped outside their country’s embassy in Moscow on Friday asking for help.

Sofiya Dukhovnaya, an activist with the anti-human trafficking group Alternativa, told The Associated Press the men arrived in Russia using a legal loophole posing as World Cup fans.

An agency in Nigeria sold them World Cup fan identification cards that allowed them to enter Russia without a visa and promised them work. But it was clear that the men were not in Russia for the soccer because they didn’t know which matches their national team was playing or even how many players were on the team, according to Dukhovnaya.

Once in Russia, the men realized they had been lied to. There were no jobs lined up for them, their return tickets turned out to be fake and they very quickly ran out of money and couldn’t afford food and shelter.

“They were hoping to find work and improve their lives,” Dukhovnaya said.

Alternativa said the Nigerian Embassy promised help, but did little for the men. The group tried feeding some of the men and putting them up in hostels, but as more and more came, Alternativa ran out of resources and could not support them all. Besides the 60 men who showed up near the embassy in Moscow on Friday, rights activists believe there are dozens more in and around Moscow.

Nigerian Ambassador Steve Davies Ugbah addressed the men on Friday and promised to provide them with food and shelter while he looks for a way to get them home.

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