FIFA World Cup 2018: Vladimir Putin and his big umbrella at the finals spark a deluge of Twitter memes

The FIFA World Cup 2018 came to an exhilarating end on Sunday night in Russia as France lifted their second World Cup trophy beating Croatia 4-2. The final match saw many eminent personalities and celebrities in attendance at the Luzhniki stadium including Russian president Vladimir Putin, French president Emanuel Macron and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. [caption id=“attachment_4748051” align=“alignleft” width=“372”] Vladimir Putin and Emanuel Macron at the FIFA World Cup final in Russia on Sunday. Image courtesy: EMPICS Sport[/caption] While all the leaders hugged each other and congratulated the French president on his country’s win, it was what happened at the presentation ceremony that caught people’s attention and sent Twitter buzzing with memes. As downpour started right after the match got over, an umbrella cover was bought in for the Russian president who was busy greeting the players, however, the French and the Croatian presidents continued to get soaked in the rain. Many took to social media to angle out the show of political strength in the act. As thejournal.ie reported , that “given his reputation for strong arm tactics and diplomatic mind games, many social media users reckoned that the lack of protection for anyone else but Putin fit in pretty well with his political persona”. However, later at the time of the presentation ceremony, other (smaller) umbrellas were brought in for the other dignitaries but it was too late save face from embarrassment for the on-ground officials. Here are some of the social media reactions to the incident:

Meanwhile, the Russian president is all set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday in the Finnish capital of Helsinki where the two are expected to talk on an an array of fronts including Syria, Ukraine and nuclear disarmament.