Confederations Cup Social Diary: All Blacks thrill All White as Portuguese rack up milestones

Into week two at the Confederations Cup and Saturday saw Group A wrapped up, with Portugal heading through in top position courtesy of a thumping 4-0 win over New Zealand.

A keenly contested encounter in Kazan saw Mexico prevail 2-1 and progress at the expense of hosts Russia, while the focus now turns to Chile, Germany, Australia and Cameroon, who went through their final preparations for the Group B finale.

It was also a day of landmarks and players taking a glance towards sporting pursuits other than football.

New Zealand’s concluding game of the tournament taking place in St Petersburg this evening did not stop All Whites striker Chris Wood enjoying a victory for his country’s rugby union heroes over the British and Irish Lions in the first Test.

Very nice from the AB’s there beating the lions! 1 down 2 wins to go.

— Chris Wood (@officialcwood) June 24, 2017

The sport of choice in the Australia camp was basketball. It might not have been on the same elite level, but veteran campaigner Tim Cahill was delighted to dish out a beating to Aziz Behich.

Showing @AzizBehich how it’s done 4 out of 5 shots haha
Chill time with the boys pic.twitter.com/RLc0Zx2YT3

— TIM CAHILL (@Tim_Cahill) June 24, 2017

Mexico might have made an inauspicious start against Russia, falling behind to Alexander Samedov’s opener, but their fans were primed and ready for action long before kick-off.

#ConfedCup #MEXRUS pic.twitter.com/T6DEDdLlBe

— #ConfedCup (@FIFAcom) June 24, 2017

It was a proud day for Joao Moutinho, who became the fifth Portuguese player of all time to bring up 100 caps.

Estreou-se há quase 12 anos, no dia 17 de agosto de 2005, num jogo frente ao Egipto. Marca histórica: jogo 100 para João Moutinho! pic.twitter.com/3LHDfaqHjG

— Portugal(@selecaoportugal) June 24, 2017

He joins Cristiano Ronaldo in that club and, naturally, the tournament superstar brought up yet another milestone with his 75th international goal. Only Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas has more for a European nation. They have a club in common, you know…

 

4 golos, 3 pontos, 1; lugar no Grupo A. Portugal está nas meias-finais da Taça das Confederações. Bem jogado, rapazes! 4 goals, 3 points, and Group A winners. Portugal is in the FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-Finals! #TeamPortugal ️️ 0-4 ️

A post shared by Portugal (@portugal) on Jun 24, 2017 at 10:07am PDT

Meanwhile, Russia must leave their own party early in possession of this unhelpful stat:

Own Goal finished as joint top scorer for Russia at #ConfedCup.

— Artur Petrosyan (@arturpetrosyan) June 24, 2017