Russian club travels 10,000km... for 0-0 draw

The team traveled for 10 hours to make the match. (File photo: AFP)

MOSCOW: Russian second division side Baltika Kaliningrad underwent a marathon trip of 10,000km — a quarter of the way around the world — to play an away match only to see their exhausting efforts rewarded with a 0-0 draw.
Baltika, based in the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, flew east to face Luch Vladivostok, situated close to Russia’s border with China and North Korea.
“It’s the first time we have played a match starting at 7am, Kaliningrad time,” said Baltika manager Igor Cherevchenko after a fixture which required a 10-hour flight.
“In the first 15 minutes, my players looked as if they hadn’t woken up.”
“But my boys managed to overcome this test and earned a precious point — this is the main thing about this prolonged trip.”