It was a near-perfect opening day for Russia as its hosting of the World Cup kicked off Thursday.A 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia, thousands of fans filling the squares of Moscow in the evening sunshine,and all of it broadcast to hundreds of millions watching around the globe.For Putin himself, this World Cup is extremely important with precisely an aim of demonstrating his so-called "second face",a friendly, open face that theoretically could have contributed to the change of Russia's image as well as his ownif it had not been for previous events.Events that have made Russia the pariah of the West:The annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine in 2014,the destruction of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which investigators say was shot down by a Russian missile,the intervention in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assadand the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter on British soil which London blames squarely on the Kremlin.Well, it lost the soft power gains Russia got from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochiand how quickly it gave them away when it started the annexation of Crimea before their closing ceremony had even begun.So there's something else at play for Russiaand which is that it will use the World Cup as an example of its reemerging as a great power,
