Forget the opening game, Vladimir Putin in his private box stole the show

The day has arrived...

World Cup 2018 is officially underway in Russia and the hosts got off to a winning start with a cool 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the opening game. Russia made light work of the fixture and the result was surely to their esteemed leader Vladimir Putin's taste as he called the head coach Stanislav Cherchesov midway through his post-match press conference to congratulate him on a super win. Putin enjoyed the game from his private box alongside Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman who were friendly in the early part of the game, not so much at the latter end of it. Good thing Ronnie Whelan knew the story... https://twitter.com/newschambers/status/1007294919264948225 Putin was caught smugly shaking hands with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after Russia scored the first of three goals against Saudi Arabia. The reaction after the first goal... https://twitter.com/OptusSport/status/1007294089002303488 This is a new meme waiting to happen. https://twitter.com/Uchekush_/status/1007290922005082113 This tweet probably didn't go down well in Russia... https://twitter.com/HmzLdn/status/1007291111143100418 https://twitter.com/eddbas/status/1007312092582563840 Thing began to get tense as the goals flew in... https://twitter.com/ShamaJunejo/status/1007300398233849857 The fifth goal spelled the end for any kind of niceties... https://twitter.com/ShamaJunejo/status/1007305783707684864 Are you not entertained? https://twitter.com/MartaMariaFCB/status/1007305837969399808