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World Cup 2018: Inside the Socceroos' home base at Kazan, Russia

Jun 14th, 2018
World Cup 2018: Inside the Socceroos' home base at Kazan, Russia
Jun 14th, 2018

Customised mattresses, impeccable wi-fi and thousands of poached eggs.

The extraordinary lengths that the Socceroos have gone to in order to maximise their chances of succeeding at the World Cup have been revealed.

On Wednesday, FFA officials took travelling media on a tour of their Kazan base, the home of Ak Bars ice hockey side.

The Russian champions have a two-building site in the Tatarstan capital, complete with hotel, ice hockey rink and elite training and recovery facilities. But for this month, it's been given over to the Socceroos to act as their home away from home.

FFA has renovated the entire facility with Socceroos paraphernalia, signs and banners full of motivational slogans and pictures of Socceroos from years past. There's even an Australian flag and Aboriginal flag flying proudly in the middle of the venue as if to confirm the takeover.

FFA national teams boss Luke Casserly said the site was the result of many years of learning. The overall goal is to create a homely environment, 13,000 kilometres from Sydney, and minimise disruption to the players.

Given their training ground - the Stadium Trudovye Rezervy - is less than 100 metres away, there couldn't be any less travelling involved.

The same goes for matches, as opposed to the experience of four years ago. In Brazil, the Socceroos based themselves out of non-host city Vitoria, which meant a lack of World Cup buzz and lengthy flight times to travel to matches.

Then-coach Holger Osieck chose the base, hoping that the distance would allow Australia to knuckle down in relative peace. The feedback was that the Socceroos wanted to feel more of a part of the tournament, leading Casserly and Ange Postecoglou to decide on the relatively central city of Kazan.

December's World Cup draw confirmed their choice was a good one - albeit one with a slice of luck - when they were drawn to play their opening match in Kazan, with their second a 30-minute flight away in Samara.

Casserly has also learned a thing or two about player preferences.

"The two things we can't afford to get wrong is wi-fi and coffee," he said.

"And the PS4."

Super-fast broadband services the entire area, with a coffee machine available to players in one of their designated chillout zones.

The federation also ensures at least one video gaming console travels with them on all away trips, given the fondness of many players to relax with a controller in hand. Each player and staffer has their own room in the Ak Bars hotel building, normally used for visiting ice hockey players.

(AAP)

Inside, each player has a customised mattress - flown in from Australia - to ensure a good night's rest. In Brazil, some players resorted to sleeping on the floor, such was the quality of their sleeping set-up.

Then there's the food.

Brazilian Vinicius Capovilla has been the Socceroos' head chef since the 2014 World Cup, when players loved his meals so much FFA decided to retain his services.

In Kazan, he is overseeing a staff of 18 to prepare 65 meals - for players and staff - three times a day. He is assisted by local staff, who gather the very best ingredients for the team. Capovilla is meticulous, making everything in house - down to the bread and butter.

At meal time, the Socceroos have set seats. Coach Bert van Marwijk has chosen a spot in the corner of the room so he can keep an eye on each of his players. The most popular meal? Poached eggs for breakfast.

Capovilla claims to have poached 60,000 eggs in his four years of Socceroos service.

The major expense, coming off the back of plush five-star pre-tournament training camp in Antalya, Turkey, is offset by FIFA's accommodation allowance.

But FFA has also dipped into its pocket, specifically into the US$8 million (A$10.5m) minimum prize money it will receive from Russia, to create the experience.

In all, it's a multimillion dollar investment designed to help Australia get an edge in Russia.

©AAP2018

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