World Cup Final Begins, Lin Quan Takes the Field as Captain

At last, July 15 had arrived—the day of the World Cup final.

Moscow's streets were filled with fans wearing the jerseys of the teams they supported, winding their way along the Moscow River toward the final's venue—Luzhniki Stadium.

This stadium, which had once hosted the opening ceremony of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, was welcoming another world-famous spectacle thirty-eight years later.

Fans had set out early, converging from all directions.

The stadium had opened dozens of entrances, yet they were still not enough. Large numbers of fans remained outside, but fortunately, plenty of security personnel were on hand to maintain order and ensure everyone entered in an orderly fashion.

Although Luzhniki Stadium had more than 87,000 seats, those who managed to get tickets and watch the match in person were still a minority.

A great many fans had failed to secure tickets. Some scalpers waved final tickets in the air, taking advantage of the time before kickoff to sell off their hoarded stock at exorbitant prices.

Scalpers were impossible to stamp out and could be found anywhere in the world.

They were also the people fans hated most, because they had taken so many tickets that should have belonged to genuine supporters.

But for certain fans who desperately wanted to watch the match, scalpers gave them a chance to buy their way in.

The price they had to pay, however, was bound to be steep.

"How much is one ticket?"

A man in a suit and tie hurried to the venue. After scanning the area outside the stadium, he found a scalper selling tickets and asked for the price.

"Two thousand euros!"

The scalper was good at reading people. After sizing the man up and roughly judging his financial means, he casually named a price.

"Why don't you just rob me?"