Inside the Socceroos’ Russia World Cup base in Kazan where dreams will be made

IN winter, Australia’s Russia World Cup base in Kazan is home to a Russian ice hockey team. In the summer of 2018, the Socceroos will turn Stadium Trudovye Rezervy in to a field of dreams.

Stadium Trudovye Rezervy in winter and (inset) the pitch in summer.

THIS is the home of a Russian ice-hockey club that will be the base camp from where the Socceroos plot Operation Russia 2018.

Three years after first identifying the Stadium Trudovye Rezervy in the city of Kazan as the perfect base in Russia, Football Federation Australia will create a Socceroos-themed environment with every detail covered to maximise the team’s preparation for the World Cup.

As these exclusive pictures below show, the stadium is part of a complex that offers the Australian team its accommodation, medical and recovery facilities and shops and cafes for their down time, as well as a pitch that will be measured and cut to exactly the same specifications as those in the World Cup stadiums.

Stadium Trudovye Rezervy in winter and (inset) the pitch in summer.

The Stadium Trudovye Rezervy, is normally the home of Russian ice hockey club AK Bars but will be given over to the Australian camp for the whole of their World Cup campaign.

This gives officials an opportunity to put up branding and kit out the entire complex, including the players’ rooms, to make everyone feel as comfortable and as at home as possible.

“We have the whole site to ourselves and it’s by far and above the best we’ve come across in terms of the gym and recovery facilities, which is really important to us,” said Luke Casserly, FFA Head of National Performance.

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As the Daily Telegraph revealed two weeks ago, the Socceroos will launch their World Cup campaign from the Russian city of Kazan, a location Australia first scouted in 2015 - three years before the team qualified.

Older than Moscow, Kazan is a safe and prosperous port city on the River Volga and has a population of 1.2million.

But most importantly, and one of the key reasons that former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou picked Kazan over a base camp in Moscow, Kazan is a World Cup host city where games will be played.

The Stadium Trudovye Rezervy training complex in Kazan. Pictures: Courtesy FFA

In Brazil the Socceroos were based in the city of Vitoria, which was safe and comfortable but wasn’t a host city and lacked the “feel” of a World Cup as a result.

“The main criteria was whether it was a host city or not,” Casserly told The Saturday Telegraph. “Coming from Brazil last time the feedback from players and staff was that it was great to be in Brazil, but they weren’t in a host city so people were keen to get that buzz and vibe about a city this time - that was key.

“The quality of hotel, training facilities, average distances to matches, just overall location were also the criteria, but it needed to have a World Cup feel.”

Australia scouted 12 of the 52 possible base camps back in 2015 with a delegation that included Socceroos assistant coach Ante Milicic, who is currently in Moscow for the World Cup draw.

There is of course the chance that the draw will see the Socceroos play one of their matches in Kazan and, conveniently, the Kazan Arena can be seen from the team’s training base.

Officials from Kazan said they were excited to host the Socceroos, especially as Australia didn’t play any Confederations Cup matches in the city earlier this year.

But Australia won’t have the whole city to themselves, having just found out that Asian rivals Japan will also be based in the vicinity.

DISTANCES AND FLIGHT TIMES TO OTHER WORLD CUP CITIES

Nizhny Novgorod: 35 minutes (310km)

Samara: 35 minutes (295km)

Saransk: 40 minutes (325km)

Ekaterinburg: 1.10 hours (720km)

Moscow: 1.20 hours (720km)

Vogograd: 1.30 hours (850km)

Rostov-on-Don: 1.45 hours (1150km)

Saint Petersburg: 1.50 hours (1205km)

Sochi: 2.15 hours (1515km)

Kaliningrad: 2.30 hours (1805km)

Originally published as Inside the Socceroos’ Russia World Cup base in Kazan where dreams will be made