Hereford United’s Luke Graham is playing for the Great Britain men’s football team at the World University Summer Games in Kazan.

Settling into life here at the athlete’s village in Kazan couldn’t have been any easier.

The facilities are superb with air conditioning and Wi-Fi in the bedrooms; we certainly have nothing to moan about.

There are 30 blocks of bedrooms containing over 9,000 athletes from over 175 countries, all blazing their flags with pride out of the windows.

Our famous canteen boasts delicacies from all over the world with even a forbidden McDonald’s glaring at us. It’s a wonderful sight as cultures from all over the world mix together.

One game played by everyone is ‘croissant roulette’, where one bite will seal your fate! Almond, chocolate, custard, raspberry and strawberry awaits inside for the gambler who dares.

Another game now tradition at the end of a meal is rock, paper and scissors started by our boys. All designed around who will have to clear the trays of food and drink away!

With 20 of us, it’s a nerve wracking time when you’re left in the final two. Step up our loser Craig Moses…who then proceeded to play the game against Canada. A bold move when 30 trays are at stake.

He lost yet to his credit he gambled against the Koreans once more and won. The poor Korean was left with 40 trays to clear up, Big Mo really showed some British grit there.

The night no one in the Team GBR camp will ever forget, was the opening ceremony at the Kazan Arena. Delegates, Staff and Athletes from all of the countries were welcomed into a supporting crowd of around 40,000 people.

We are very grateful for being allowed to go during preparation time and it was a spectacular show. It made us realise the enormity of it all and the achievement in being there sunk in.

I remember how special the opening ceremony was at the London Olympics just watching it on TV. Now we were the athletes doing the lap of honour. It was inspiring and gave us the perfect tonic for our group games.

The first group game saw us beat Algeria 3-0, which was more of a formality really. Yet with Malaysia defeating Italy 2-0, we knew our game against the Malaysians now had something riding on it.

We put in a confident performance winning 2-0 and we had further chances to add gloss to the score line. The two goals scored by messiahs Aldred and Dyer were real team goals and they were a joy to watch back the next day.

The Italians, who boasted several u21 internationals and Serie B players, now had to beat us by more than two goals to progress to the quarter finals. They really threw everything at us and there quality was there for all to see.

We managed a terrific team defensive display that saw us eventually lose one 1-0.

It was a lesson in football and the quality of opposition we would have to face to reach the final. All the nations boast internationals from full to u21 level apart from ourselves, so we know the task will be difficult. Yet we have built a great team spirit and we won’t lie down for anyone. Bring on Ukraine and the quarter finals.