Russia Trounces Georgia At Soccer

There's been a lot of soccer diplomacy recently, with Turkish President Abdullah Gul making his historic visit to Armenia. Less high-profile was an international youth match today between Georgia and Russia, which was held in Belarus instead of Moscow.

There were many visible demonstrations of support for Georgia with flags and banners. And, according to our Belarus Service, a number of "plainclothes men" handing out Russian flags to the students and soldiers bused in for the game.

There are photos and videos on our Belarusian site and a story on the match from Charter 97. Russia won 4-0, by the way.

-- Luke Allnutt