The parliamentarian friendly kicks off at 11 a.m. whereas the national squads start playing at 7:45 p.m., local time. The Portuguese MPs on the team are all members of a Portugal -Russia Friendship Society, set up this past April.
Alto Sol, a travel agency arranging trips to Euro 2004 for Russian soccer fans, told RIA Novosti that some 3,500 of its clients were to arrive in Portugal by fourteen flights on June 11 alone.
The VIP fans from Russia will include Boris Gryzlov, Speaker of the State Duma, or Russia's lower house of parliament, and Vyacheslav Fetisov, head of the Federal Agency for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well as arts celebrities.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is also expected to attend the historic Euro 2004 match, although his plans have not been officially confirmed so far. If he does come along, Luzhkov may also meet for talks with his Lisbon counterpart, Santana Lopes.
