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Soccer-Russia to set up World Cup base at Itu

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Russia has chosen the town of Itu as their base for next year's World Cup in Brazil, coach Fabio Capello said on Wednesday. "The base is located close to Sao Paulo," the 67-year-old Italian coach told reporters. "I think we took a very good position given the schedule of our games. It's the perfect option for us." Russia, making their first appearance at the global showpiece since 2002, picked the old and historic town in the state of Sao Paulo with a population of just over 150,000, after Germany had abandoned their plans to set up base there. "Fabio Capello wanted this base," Russian Football Union's vice-president Anatoliy Vorobiev said. "There's a big competition but thanks to the efforts of our partners, we managed to meet the demands of our head coach." The location is an hour's drive from Sao Paulo and 20 minutes from the international airport in Viracopos, Campinas. Japan will be the other team to be based in Itu. Russia are in Group H with Belgium, Algeria and South Korea and will play games in Cuiaba, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba. (Writing by Angel Krasimirov; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)