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Johannesburg - None of the scenes in the 1963 British spy film From Russia With Love was shot on location in the then Soviet Union.
This was Sean Connery’s second role as MI6 agent James Bond - the one where he was sent to assist with the defection of Soviet consulate clerk Tatiana Romanova in Turkey.
The scenes were actually shot in Pinewood Studios in the UK and Scotland.
I don’t think there has been an event that has exposed President Vladimir Putin’s country to the rest of world like the Soccer World Cup has done.
Contrary to the picture of the Soviet Union that the West has painted for the world as gospel, this event has done wonders to alter those perceptions.
The jovial mood displayed by locals and visitors inside and outside the stadiums, as well as on the streets of the host cities, has defied the ugly picture painted by some when Russia was awarded the right to host the event.
One has heard about few incidents of racism during this period.
We might even have some of those who attended finding themselves in the same mood author Alan Paton was in when he penned Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful.
The football has been superb, and the shocks experienced through the unexpected results have been sublime. These added that very important ingredient that makes football such a drug for the masses - unpredictability.
When you take that away from football or any other sport, as match fixers have tried to do, you kill all the excitement.
In an uncanny way, Russia managed to dish out some very unexpected results.
All the usual suspects - Brazil with their unprecedented five titles, Germany and Argentina with four, Portugal and Spain going in proudly displaying that “favourite” tag - were all unceremoniously bundled out.
This is why on Sunday, in the final, we are left with two countries not many predicted would end up here.
France, to a certain extent, were one of the favourites, given that they won the trophy in 1998. They currently have a generation of players that can stand against any football side on the globe, and have Didier Deschamps, a coach who is not averse to success.
There is a special crop of individuals, such as Mário Zagallo of Brazil (twice as a player) and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany, who have won football’s Holy Grail both as players and managers.
Deschamps stands on the threshold of that achievement. Standing between him and that
is a determined and highly confident, if not daring, Zlatko Dalic and his troop of Croatian battle-scarred warriors.
How do you describe someone who, on taking over the reigns as national coach last October, a mere eight months before the World Cup, declared he would resign if he failed to lead the nation of four million to qualify for the international spectacle?
Attendances have been adding to the carnival atmosphere inside the stadiums, which is always a recipe for good football.
It also means FIFA and the sponsors are happy and can hear the cash registers ringing.
So just like those who made the movie mentioned above, which went way over its original budget and schedule but ended up grossing $78 million (much higher than the $2 million spent), FIFA will be smiling all the way to the bank.
By the end of Sunday, either Deschamps or Dalic will collect the coveted World Cup trophy. And in a few days, one of them will present it to the country’s president - Emmanuel Macron in Deschamps’ case and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic if Dalic emerges victorious - with the words: “From Russia, with love.”
