For a 90-Minute Game, a Train Ride of 27 Hours

YEKATERINBURG, Russia — After about 27 hours and 900 miles on a prepare from Moscow, Hans Josefsson's pedicure stayed faultless.

Before leaving Sweden 10 days sooner for the World Container, he had his toenails painted blue and gold, the shades of the national soccer group.

"An expert did it; I knew I would complete a considerable measure of strolling in these shoes," Mr. Josefsson said before touching base here Tuesday evening in the easternmost Russian city in which matches are being played.

A kindred traveler on the daylong outing, Luis Aragones, 24, a draftsman, had viewed in Mexico City as Mexico dazed Germany, the shielding champion, in its opening amusement. He had joined a ridiculous festival whose mass bouncing may have caused what might as well be called a minor seismic tremor.