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Louise Bawden, Duty Editor Omnisport (senior video journalist), is one of an exclusive band of women working for the media at the World Cup. We are delighted that Lou is sharing her experiences with Women in Football and providing a unique insight from behind-the-scenes in Russia.

Since our last catch up the football is now in full swing. The games are coming thick and fast, and there is an exciting buzz with the success of the host country gripping the nation. 

Day Eight 

In the aftermath of the incredible result for Russia in the opening game, my initial job for the day was to go their training base to gather reactions from within the camp. 

Before the tournament many journalists, pundits and even fans were playing down the chances of the hosts, believing this was one of the weakest teams Russia has ever entered in a finals. It was clear from the moment that the squad entered the training pitch, that there is a real togetherness within their squad. The manager greeted the group with hugs, smiles and handshakes - a team in high spirits motivated by their success. The media were also there in force from all over the world driving the hype around the team.  

Later as a team, we went to watch the Spain vs Portugal game whilst eating dinner. Everywhere you go in Moscow you can see the football. We were sat in a restaurant with around 15 Spanish supporters, who lived every minute as their team suffered at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo’s brilliance. It is really incredible to be a part of the football family whether in the stadium, the Fan Fest, or just watching it in a bar.

Day Nine

Fans had been descending on the city for days but today saw a sea of blue, white and red as Iceland fans geared up to face Argentina in their first ever game in a World Cup. Supporters gathered in a local park very close to Red Square, where they had organised a singer and a guitarist, who led the army of people in every fan song they knew. The most special moment was the 'Viking Clap', the most spine tingling moment of the tournament for me so far, maybe the first time I realised how special this world really is.

I really didn’t think the day could get any better... how wrong I was. We travelled to the Spartak Stadium to cover the fans pre and post match. I wasn’t expecting to watch the game, but to my surprise a colleague had queued to get me one of the spare observer tickets. I literally could not contain my excitement being able to see Messi play in a World Cup match. It really was quite a game, Argentina held to a draw and Messi missed a penalty, it was an incredible game for my first ever World Cup match. We also got to see Maradona, who was sat in the seats very close to the media. 

One of my least favourite parts of my job is the rough and tumble of the Mixed Zone after a game. With such a shock result I knew to expect a difficult situation.

I can honestly say the best day of my World Cup so far...

Day Ten

Fan colour is one of my favourite things to shoot, to see the emotions written across the faces of the supporters as they live each moment of the game is pretty special. The Fan Fest in Moscow has been packed for most of the matches, thousand of fans from every country joining together. Those from Mexico have travelled in force to Russia and there was an excited buzz as they kicked off their first group game against the defending champions, Germany.

Every World Cup is filled with shocks and surprises and when Germany conceded, the whole crowd exploded with cheers, shouts, clapping - it was an eruption of pure joy....

As the minutes ticked on the nerves could be clearly seen on the faces of huge groups of Mexican fans that had gathered. When the final whistle blew the celebrations that followed were incredible with fantastic singing, dancing, chanting - they even raised up a man in a wheel chair above their heads in celebration!

The carnival atmosphere continued through the streets of Moscow for hours.

Day Eleven

The day began at a German school based in the outskirts of Moscow where the German Federation had organised a visit by Phillip Lahm. The children lined the entrance waiting for

the player to arrive; they had banners and flags to give the visit a real party theme. After the ex Bayern Munich star entered he was interviewed by three of the pupils who hosted the event and took questions from other pupils in the audience. The beauty about kids asking questions to stars is you never know what they might say, and they didn’t disappoint. There were certainly a few funny moments when Lahm got caught on the back foot.

That night for me was the most important yet, I felt like we had waited a long time to get England’s campaign underway and it was finally here. Luckily my editor arranged so we could go to the Fan Fest to watch the game. I felt nervous, but when the first goal went in all that disappeared. As normal we never do things the easy way but the last minute winner from Harry Kane was the perfect ending to what had been a great few days

Day Twelve

The press conferences are coming thick and fast at this point and I started my day by heading back out to the French camp, this would be a quick turnaround as I had to get back into the city to film fan colour for the Poland vs Senegal game. The Moscow roads were kind and I managed to get back in good time.

The result meant there were a lot of disgruntled Polish fans leaving the stadium who were less than happy to be filmed and this made getting Vox Pops particularly difficult. The Senegal fans, on the other hand, were in full carnival mode. They were the only African nation to win their opening group game and wanted the world to know about it!

Russia played their second game of the tournament and since they won the opening game the locals have started to take a massive interest in the tournament. The mood was positive surrounding this game, with the only really threat coming from Liverpool’s Mo Salah in his return from injury.

Russia were defiant again in their resolve and pulled off another phenomenal result for the hosts. The whole of Moscow was in full party mode, Russians flooded the streets chanting, singing and celebrating. The drivers on all the roads were beeping their horns, waving flags out of windows and one guy was even stood on top of a car as it drove down the main road to Red Square. 

Day Thirteen

My second visit to the Russian base camp was much easier this time as I knew what to expect with their Mixed Zone set up press conference style. There is a real excitement from Russian journalists about the prospects of the team and one of the local TV stations asked if they could interview me about the team and their success. My debut on Russian TV made it an interesting day. 

Day Fourteen

Many of the federations have bases here in Moscow and I got the opportunity to visit the CONMEBOL house to interview a famous goalkeeper keeper that played for Colombia.
The venue is like a museum to all the teams within the federation. My moment of the day had to be getting my picture taken with the Copa Libertadores trophy. Everyone love a trophy pic right?! Or is it just me.

Day Fifteen

Another early start to the day and another trip to Portugal’s base camp for 'Ronaldo watch'.
Unfortunately he did not do the press conference but Jose Fonte was really engaging and reinforced the togetherness with the Portuguese camp. It was a quiet day in Moscow as this was my only shoot, but in the madness we all need a few quiet days.

That’s all from me for now but I hope you are all enjoying the tournament as much as I am.

From Russia with Love

Louise 

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