Sophie Heywood (left), with Costa Rica's Marco Urena (No 21), and Isabel Bristow with Johan Venegas (No 11) before the group E match against Brazil. Photo / Getty Images
Sophie Heywood (left), with Costa Rica's Marco Urena (No 21), and Isabel Bristow with Johan Venegas (No 11) before the group E match against Brazil. Photo / Getty Images
A crowd of 64,468, drowning in a sea of myriad colours and creating one hell of a din, is enough to give anyone walking out into a sports stadium anywhere in the world the heebie jeebies.
But not Central Hawke's Bay primary schoolgirl Sophie Heywood, who walked into the centre of the pitch at St Petersburg Stadium before the group E match between Brazil and Costa Rica kicked off at the Fifa World Cup in Russia early on Saturday (NZ time).
"I just took it in my stride," said 8-year-old Sophie via a Skype interview, after holding the hand of Marco Urena, 28, a Costa Rican striker who plies his trade with Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.
The Waipukurau Primary School year 4 pupil is with Isabel Bristow, of Lower Hutt, Wellington, for the trip of a lifetime after winning a New Zealand Football competition in April.
Sophie, who had never travelled in an aeroplane before, took her well-travelled mother, Rebecca, with her after the pair had hastily arranged their passports.
Rebecca said officials had whisked the girls away for a morning at the venue, also known as Krestovsky Stadium, the home of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, for rehearsals.
"Just getting to the stadium and getting to our seats was just emotional for me. The noise was so loud and intense it was just exciting.
"When Sophie got to the pitch it was quite neat to see her walking out and I was so proud," said the teacher aide at her daughter's school, after fighting back tears that afternoon just at the thought of the billions of TV viewers taking in the footage.
A bespectacled Isabel walked out with Costa Rica midfielder Johan Venegas, 29, who plays for Deportivo Saprissa but, like Urena, also plies his trade in the United States - in his case with Minnesota United.
Urena had initially thought the CHB youngster was a Russian, recruited for the world's largest team tourney ending on July 15 after kicking off on June 14.
"He knew a bit of English so he asked me what my name was and all that sort of thing," said Sophie, revealing all the hoopla didn't faze her one bit.
But the youngster was over the moon when Brazil scored in the referee's time even though she had left the Bay as an ardent Costa Rican fan because her mother was backing Brazil. Midfielder Philippe Coutinho and star striker Neymar scored goals in the 90 + 1 and 90 + 7 minutes in the 2-0 victory in the stop-start affair.
Rebecca had almost missed the April 4 deadline to submit the entry by a few hours, after receiving a reply from NZ Football for registering Heywood to play for her school team last year.
The mother also had put in an entry for Sophie's brother, Cameron, a 7-year-old twin with William, who is two minutes older but plays rugby.
It's been "daddy daycare" for the twins with their father, Tom, because it was Sophie's choice to make it an all-girl trip.
The family were saving money for Tom to go to Melbourne this November for a firefighting staircase challenge, akin to the Sky Tower one in Auckland last month, but it got cancelled so all the money was diverted to Russia.
On Saturday the twins slept through but Tom stayed up to watch his daughter on TV from CHB, as did her maternal grandfather, John Turner, of Napier. Turner is an avid Napier City Rovers supporter and used to sponsor the club-hosted annual National Under-19 Championship at Park Island.
"My mother even watched her in the Isle of Man [England]," said Rebecca of Liz Turner as she and Sophie received a flood of delayed messages from relatives and friends on social media.
Sophie Heywood (fourth from right) stands in front of Costa Rica striker Marco Urena (No 21). On her right is Isabel Bristow, of Wellington, before the match against Brazil. Photo / Getty Images
She said the youngsters who had marched out with the pair for the countries' national anthems were mainly Brazilians.
Sophie made friends with peers from Bosnia and Russia but, it seems, she and Isabel have forged a lifetime's friendship.
Fast-food giant McDonald's organised everything for their six-night visit to St Petersburg, with sightseeing as well as engaging in a "soccer skills masterclass" with other lucky winners from around the world.
On Sunday the Kiwi girls joined a Rest of the World team to play against Brazil in a "Bamperball" game (like Nerf balls), with Ronald McDonald making a cameo appearance.
Young Isabel claimed the limelight when she scored the first goal of the match although Sophie chimed in with two of her own to help seal victory for the Rest of the World.
That aside, Rebecca said, they were soaking up the jaw-dropping sights of St Petersburg and its surrounds.
"The architecture, compared to New Zealand, is so old and beautiful and a totally different style."
She had told her hubby she could live in Russia because cheaper food and lifestyle appealed but she agreed the lower incomes would be a leveller.
Most of the contingent of trip-winning girls and their parents have returned home but the Heywoods will return on Thursday after a two-day stopover in sweltering 45C climes of Doha, Qatar, because of restricted flights to New Zealand.
Sophie stuck to kiddies' meals in the Russian leg but Rebecca had tried several "very tasty" delicacies.
"All this wouldn't have been possible without McDonald's and Football NZ giving us this opportunity and my husband, Tom, staying home to look after our twin boys so I want to give them all the biggest thank you for all they have done," said Rebecca.
