RUSSIAN RHAPSODY

Ball Girls selected for opener

A group of 14 Russian girls will act as ballgirls in the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday, the first all-female group to do so.

The girls, aged 13 to 16, from Agryz, a small town of 19,000 people some 800 km (500 miles) east of Moscow, were selected by the Russian national team after making a sponsor's shortlist of "inspiring entrants" to a national junior football tournament.

"It's like a fairytale for them", said their coach, Ildar Idiyatov.

The 14 girls, who play football for a team in the Russian region of Tartarstan, will have the eyes of the world on them as they return the ball in the Group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

The local World Cup organising committee said 776 children would work as ballboys and ballgirls at the 64 match tournament, but this was the first time an all-female group had operated at the opening game of the FIFA showpiece.

Portugal camp quiet on sporting crisis

Portugal midfielder Joao Mario deflected questions on the crisis engulfing Sporting Lisbon that has seen four national team players at the World Cup rescind their contracts with the troubled club.

William Carvalho, Gelson Martins, Bruno Fernandes, as well as Dutch striker Bas Dost, all filed notice with Portuguese authorities on Monday to say they were breaking their contracts with Sporting, claiming "just cause".

Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio had already walked out of the club before flying to Russia amid the fallout from last month's horrific gang attack on players and coaches.

"Everything that has to do with questions not related to our national team are not going to be discussed because we are all focused on our games for Portugal and the match with Spain," Mario told reporters at the team's base camp on the outskirts of Moscow.

"It's not a question that should be raised now, we are focused on the game against Spain," added the former Sporting midfielder, who spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham from Inter Milan.

Several first team players were attacked on May 15 by disgruntled fans wearing balaclavas after they invaded the club's training complex at Alcochete, outside Lisbon.

The supporters broke into the training complex, vandalised the dressing rooms, and threatened backroom staff and assaulted players and coaching staff.