Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Oleg Artemyev showcased their footballing skills in zero-gravity at the International Space Station (ISS) ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2018,set to begin on June 14.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The pair are seen in a video released by Russian state space agency Roscosmos, taking turns to fire shots in zero gravity at each other in an orbital training session.
In the clip, Artemyevwas seen setting up goal at the space station with the Russian flag on top and the flags of few other World Cup playing nations sprawled in the background. The cosmonaut himself was wearing a FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 T-shirt and yellow gloves as he performed some acrobatic skills with the official World Cup ball.
The cosmonaut’s showed off skills which involved a number of volleys that Real Madrid stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale would be proud of.
He also demonstrated some spectacular saves which evoked memories of Russian goalkeeping legend Lev Yashin.
Fellow cosmonaut Shkaplerov, who also donned a Russia 2018 T-shirt, was seen performing similar acrobatic feats as he fired shots at Artemyev.
The ball used by the pair was brought to the space station especially for the kickaround, and it is planned that it will return to Earth together with the crew on the Soyuz MC-07 on June 3.
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