A combination picture shows boys playing soccer (top), and details of feet, a pitch and a football, in a residential area in Kolkata, India, May 12 - May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - As Russia puts the finishing touches to the carefully manicured fields that will host the World Cup from next week, people around the globe are playing soccer on a surprising variety of makeshift pitches.
Off the coast of an island in southern Thailand, they play on a floating platform; in the mountains of northern Italy, they kick about in the snow - images captured by Reuters photographers around the world.
Click on https://reut.rs/2JBWSJm to see the photo essay.
A combination picture shows students checking soccer robots (top), and details of a pitch, a ball-handling device, and a ball at the Robot Vision Laboratory of the Tokyo Polytechnic University in Atsugi, Japan, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
On a dusty Kolkata street, painted with a 2018 World Cup logo, Indian schoolchildren brave the traffic for a barefoot game.
"We play when we get time and whenever the road is empty," Papan Mallick, 13, told Reuters.
He is a fan of Argentina's Lionel Messi, while 12-year-old Suchan Pakre worships Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo. They will both be watching the action in Russia that kicks off on June 14.
A combination picture shows boys playing soccer on a net-covered pitch which protects the ball from going out of the ground (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in Mumbai, India, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
As will Lorenzo Richetto, who uses skis for goalposts as he enjoys a match on the snow with his friends at the Italian ski resort of Sestriere.
"I would like to emulate Messi but playing with ski boots, I will be more likely to emulate the former ski champion Alberto Tomba," Richetto, 46, told Reuters.
A combination picture shows men playing soccer on a roof stadium (top), and details of a football, a pitch and shoes, in Shanghai, China, May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song
(Writing by Emilia Sierzputowska. Editing by Patrick Johnston and Robin Pomeroy, Larry King)
A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, at Koh Dach resort along the Mekong river banks on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 15 - May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Samrang Pring A combination picture shows local children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in the Royal Old Town Vranduk built in the 14th century in Vranduk, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 17 - May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic A combination picture shows ski club teachers playing soccer in the snow wearing ski boots (top), and details of ski boots, snow and a football, in Sestriere, Italy, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini A combination picture shows local residents playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, on the top floor of a parking garage in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside A combination picture shows men playing Subuteo (top), and details of Sabuteo pitch, a player and a football, in Rome, Italy, May 13, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi A combination picture shows local kids playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 15 2018. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in Alcorcon, near Madrid, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Perez A combination picture shows neighbourhood team playing soccer (top), and details of a pitch, shoes, and a football in the ACI 2000 neighbourhood of Bamako, Mali, May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Annie Risemberg A combination picture shows boys playing soccer on an improvised football pitch (top), and details of a boy wearing shoes, pitch and a football, in Bayanzurkh district of the capital Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, May 12, 2018. REUTERS/B. Rentsendorj A combination picture shows boys playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, at the compound of the Dambai EP Primary School after school hours in the town of Dambai, Ghana, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Francis KokorokoA combination picture shows men playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a football and a pitch, in Santiago, Chile, May 19 - May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado A combination picture shows people playing soccer (top), and details of a pitch, shoes and a ball, at a playground in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov A combination picture shows boys playing soccer (top), and details of feet, a pitch and a ball, in an open field along a road at Iyana-Oworo district in Lagos, Nigeria, May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye A combination picture shows men playing soccer (top), and details of feet, a pitch and a ball, outside the village of Pogi in Leningrad region, Russia, May 19, 2018. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov A combination picture shows boys playing street football (top), and details of a pair of shoes, a pitch and a ball on Windmill Walk, Southwark, central London, Britain, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of a pitch, shoes and a football, in the village of Ptychie in Stavropol region, Russia, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko A combination picture shows children playing soccer prior to the inauguration of a new sports complex (top), and details of a football, a pitch and shoes, at La Campanera Neighborhood in Soyapango, El Salvador on May 22, 2018. La Campanera is a community marked by gang violence. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas A combination picture shows young men playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in front of the Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria, May 17 - May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of a pitch, shoes and a ball, on a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, May 24 - May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini A combination picture shows children playing soccer on a floating pitch (top), and details of a pitch, flip-flops and a football, in the fishing village of Ko Panyi in southern Phang Nga Province, Thailand, May 19 - May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, on an astro-turf pitch in south-east London, Britain, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay A combination picture shows young men playing soccer (top), and details of sandals, a pitch and a football, on a makeshift pitch in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 12, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A combination picture shows Eriskay and Barra playing a soccer match (top), and details of a pitch, a Barra player and a football, on the Isle of Eriskay, Scotland, May 5, 2018. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, on an asphalt pitch in Payatas, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, May 9 - May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Dondi Tawatao A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a ball, on a brick court in front of a temple in Hoang Xa village, outside Hanoi, Vietnam, May 19, 2018, REUTERS/Kham A combination picture shows children playing soccer (top), and details of shoes, a pitch and a football, at an improvised pitch in the village of Gurgurnica, 35 km away from the nearest city of Tetovo, Macedonia, May 11 - May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski A combination picture shows construction workers playing soccer during their lunch break with their building under construction seen in the background (top), and details of a football, a pitch and a player's shoes, in Rio de Janeiro's financial district, Brazil, June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes A marking is seen on a pitch where children play soccer in the old city of Algiers Al Casbah, Algeria, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Artificial grass is seen on a roof stadium in Shanghai, China, May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song A detail of the surface of a net-covered pitch is seen in Mumbai, India, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas A pair of shoes lies on the ground on a net-covered pitch, in Mumbai, India, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas A football lies on the ground of a net-covered pitch in Mumbai, India, May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas A boy, who plays soccer barefoot, poses for a photograph in a residential area in Kolkata, India, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri A football used by ski club teachers playing soccer wearing ski boots, lies in the snow in Sestriere, Italy, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini A ski club teacher, playing soccer in the snow wearing ski boots, poses for a photograph in Sestriere, Italy, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini Shoes lie on the ground where local children play soccer in the Royal Old Town Vranduk built in the 14th century, Vranduk, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic A pair of sandals belonging to a young man playing soccer, lies on the ground at a makeshift soccer pitch in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 12, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A detail of the surface of an irregular soccer pitch is seen in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva A football made of polythene bags is seen on a pitch near Mathare valley slums of Nairobi, Kenya, May 19, 2018. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi
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