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In Local Courtyards, a Glimpse of Russian Football

Jul 04, 2018 - 01:28 pm

In a courtyard in Balashikha, a town near Moscow, the rules are strict: Show up late to the game, and you’ll have to watch from the sidelines. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

The leader of the game can ask his friends to do almost everything he wants and it will be done – even if he asks them to tie his shoelaces. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

In the winter, many courtyard football pitches are turned into ice rinks. But now, with temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius, players are looking to stay cool. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Despite the summer heat, these players in the neighborhood between the Aeroport and Dynamo metro stations prefer to play the game in their blue jeans. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Even the goalkeeper doesn’t wear special gear in this courtyard near the Aeroport Metro. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

A group of boys abandon a football that’s been kicked around a few too many times. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Young students scrimmage in the schoolyard while taking in the midsummer sun on a football pitch between the Tyoply Stan and Konkovo metros. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Some younger boys want to be professional football players when they grow up. Let’s see where they land in twenty years. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

An apartment block looms between the Tyoply Stan and Konkovo metros at the edges of the city, a vivid remnant of Soviet construction. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Some people play football even in the city center, near Metro Novokuznetskaya. Sometimes, adults need to rest after a long game. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

A boy walks away from his friends in a courtyard near Metro Dynamo after a squabble over who can take the football home after the game. Pavel Zelenkov / MT

Far from the World Cup stadiums, young footballers are battling it out in the courtyards right outside their homes.

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