Russia boss Stanislav Cherchesov believes ‘nothing is impossible’ against Spain ahead of Sunday’s World Cup last-16 tie.
Spain have the unwanted honour of never beating a host nation at a major tournament, and Cherchesov made it clear Russia had what it took to prolong La Roja’s bad run.
“Hierro was a magnificent footballer and now he’s a magnificent Coach,” he said at a Press conference.
“I remember Fernando, he was a great player and now he’s a great Coach. Back then and now, the Spaniards were favourites, but as they say in Russia, nothing is impossible.
“We’ve managed to do something that no-one thought we would. Now we have the opportunity to repeat it.
“We can see that they’ve also changed their way of playing. The players can be the same, but their roles can change.
“In the case of several players, they’ve been replaced. We didn’t change because we wanted to, but because we were forced to. We lost three players.
“Something had to be done. Now in the tournament, we’re playing with those changes and we’ve achieved some early success.
“Three centre-backs? Anything is possible, we tested it in training. I’ve already talked to several players and we’ll talk about tactics again before the game.
“The important thing is that what we do afterwards goes well. Everyone knows how Spain play. The Spaniards are the ones who have the best statistics in the tournament.”