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Day 27 

Today would be a dash between the Russia base camp and the Belgian base camp, with so many of the teams doing well in the tournament based here in Moscow, it has made the days much busier.

Russia have a very unique way of organising their media activities, whereas Belgium are far more conventional. Russia's base camp has excellent facilities for the media, a big work room, elevated positions to film training and let's not forget the traditional Russians snacks! The unusual thing is how they run their time with the players, instead of using the beautiful and large press conference room they use a branded back drop and then all the cameras crowd around with written journalists and Radio journalists crammed around the player, like in a mixed zone. The only way to describe it is "organised chaos". With the popularity of the team growing, and more media interest as they progressed through the rounds, space has been getting tighter and tighter.

Belgium, on the other hand, is the polar opposite and all very traditional with sections in the press conference for written press, tv and radio. This is all part of the excitement though, and getting used to the different ways nations have of working - and then making it work for you!

Day 28

As part of my role as the Duty Editor at Omnisport, I have been responsible for training our Video journalists to be at the World Cup in Russia. Today was the first day since I had arrived over here that I did not go on a shoot but I was able to do the really important job of checking in with my colleagues, taking stock of the content we had put out to our customers so far and encourage our Video journalists who were on their own unique journeys here in Russia.

Mentoring this group of fantastic people has been a real pleasure and I have really enjoyed seeing each one of them grow over the last 9 months as we prepared for the tournament. The personal development and the success of our team has been all down to their hard work and dedication, with some guidance from me along the way. Another important job  was to maintain the contacts we had made and line up more interviews and venues to film the action over the latter stages of the tournament. 

Day 29

The Quarter Finals began today and so Nico, my French colleague, and I were soon heading to a bar he had found near the Luzhniki Stadium that would be filled with French fans cheering on their team.

The bar had a very Parisian feel to it and every table in the room had been reserved to watch the game; the bar stools were full and there was almost not even room for us, but as always we managed to squeeze in!

Expectations in the room were high as France were the favourites going into the game and Uruguay were missing their target man Edinson Cavani. There was a real nervous tension in the air but when the first goal went in the room erupted and the party was just getting underway. After the match we spoke to many French fans who hoped this team could show the success of the 1998 World Cup winning side with so much talent in their current squad. People came dressed in fancy dress and this World Cup delivered again for me an insight in to the passion of the French fans, as I had experienced with fans from many other countries throughout the group stages. 

Day 30

Today I woke up with lots of nervous energy as England looked to beat Sweden in their Quarter Final clash, with the match against Colombia going to penalties, I wasn't sure how much more drama my heart could take.

Mikey and I had been sent to the Fan Fest to cover an event that was not football related, but big news here in Russia. Washington Capitals' star and Captain, Alex Ovechkin, brought the Stanley Cup trophy to the fan zone in Moscow and thousands cheered for the first National Hockey League (NHL) captain from Russia to win the title.

The crowd was incredible and we had to wait with them as there was no designated area for media - it was like being in a mosh pit at a rock concert  - as we were pinned up against the barriers and you could feel the weight of the crowd behind you. He spoke again in a mixed zone format and there were camera's, boom poles and equipment everywhere. Again those words "organised chaos" came to mind! 

 

We then rushed away from the fan zone to the Copa90 house to watch the game with some England fans. We had been invited as a result of this Blog, George Ryan the Brand Projects Director had invited the team and I to check out their events across the tournament. It was also a really funky venue to watch the game. To our surprise, England seemed to breeze through the game and beat Sweden convincingly to progress into their first Semi Final since 1990. I couldn't really believe... it was my first World Cup and England were performing way above my expectations for the tournament and it was a real boost being in Russia and the team performing so well.  

Back to the Fanfest where the Russian people had been queuing for hours to get a spot to watch their side take on Croatia. The Fanfest, which is located in the grounds of the University, holds around 25,000 people but every time Russia play there is never enough space for everyone to watch it there. IN response to this, the city opened a second fanfest near my hotel at the Spartak Stadium. Before the game it was like a concert with different Russian pop signers getting the crowd ready for arguably their country's biggest ever World Cup game. The nerves were written on the faces of the fans, but goals always help and when Russia scored I honestly have never heard a noise like it, it was deafening.

Unfortunately they didn't win and Croatia progressed,  but if you want to see some of the emotions I captured on the night check out this link here. 

Day 31

A fairly quiet day, just a training session and a press conference with Man City and Belgium defender Vencent Kompany. It was nice to have a more relaxed day as the emotion of the day before and emotions of getting to the Semi Finals was beginning to sink in. All of the Belgians speak multiple languages, but the press conference was a real display of linguistic prowess from Kompany who spoke five languages comfortably. I think it really reflects well on modern footballers - that takes some real skill and ability to be so confident in so many languages. 

Day 32

Exclusive interviews are always an important part of event coverage for us and today we had managed to work with Adidas and speak with one of their brand ambassadors, Edwin Van Der Sar. I have always enjoyed meeting players who had been part of the Manchester United dynasty under Sir Alex Ferguson, trying to get an insight into what it was like behind the scenes as his time at United was incredible.

Also Edwin was a former teammate of CR7 and knew him at the start his career. With Ronaldo's potential move to Juventus this was the perfect opportunity to speak to someone who had the inside track on the main man himself. As the Dutch national side were absent from this World Cup, the Dutchman gave his thoughts so far on who he thought had performed the best and who he felt might win the tournament. Edwin was fun, thoughtful and really engaging - he even took part in our World Cup ball quiz check it out here. 

Day 33

Another admin day because after this World Cup is over I have some more major events to cover, namely the Ryder Cup which will be held in France. This year has been the most incredible year for me as I have covered my first Winter Olympics, the Champions League Final, interviewed football legend Maradona and covered my first World Cup here in Russia.  I would have never imagined I could be so lucky, to be the lead video journalist at all those amazing events. 

It was great to get out later in the evening and pay another visit to the Bud Boat, this time to film their evening showing of the France v Belgium Semi Final. Fans of both teams boarded the boat to watch the game whilst passing some of the city's most iconic buildings as they floated along the Moskva River.

It was a truly magical experience to see the city lit up, whilst the fans lived their own drama right there on the boat. The Party atmosphere was electric and both fans partied the night away despite France knocking out Belgium and securing their World Cup Final Spot. See the reactions in my video here. 

Day 34

Having been in Russia for over a month the tournament was really flying by, the games had thinned out but there seemed just as much work to do. The success of England had been a surprise, but had proved a huge motivation for myself and my colleagues, The Semi Final had arrived and I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I felt so nervous for a football game.

I went to the stadium very early in the day to make sure we had collected the tickets and mixed zone passes, I wanted to enjoy the journey to the game and not worry about any small logistics we may need to sort. I wanted to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the sight of so many England fans that had made the trip to Moscow, unlike the Colombia game which was not so well attended. England fans had decided they were not going to miss this opportunity.  

The Croatians had also travelled in their thousands and this would prove to be a fierce encounter both on the pitch and on the terraces. 

As we took our seats the main body of the England fans were to our right, the noise and the singing was incredible. For the first time in Russia I felt like I was at home. The match couldn't have got off to a better start with a free kick expertly put away by Trippier. We were all out of our seats and three rows behind me sat the Talk Sport team. Behind them, around six rows back, were the BBC team and boy did Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer go nuts when the goal flew in. Normally reserved journalists were cheering their team on with no inhibitions, we were living the drama as were millions of fans back at home. 

As you all know it was not to be and although Croatia progressed to the final, I felt disappointed but I didn't feel cheated, or in anyway like it should have been a different result, we were beaten by a better team but I felt ok with that and so proud of the performances the boys put in. 

The England team had made my World Cup more memorable than I could have ever dreamed about. We were so close to the final but the England fans I spoke to after the game were not negative at all, they were beaming with pride to be English and to have reconnected with their love and passion for the game. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions but worth every minute to share that incredible experience. 

We had our finalists and Croatia would meet a strong French team with some of the most talented players in the competition. 

From Russia with Love

Louise

* 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.

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