Portugal gear up for tough Spain test

Portugal coach Fernando Santos does not think Spain will be significantly weakened by the sudden departure of coach Julen Lopetegui.

Lopetegui was sacked by the Spanish Football Federation on Wednesday, just two days before his country’s eagerly-anticipated World Cup opener against Santos’ side in Sochi, having accepted a job at Real Madrid.

Fernando Hierro has taken charge at short notice, but with Spain still rated as one of the top teams in the competition, Santos does not expect the disruption to overly affect them.

Santos said: “There will be two on-field teams that will want to win the game.

“The most important thing is the clash between the two teams. It has everything to be a great game.

Portugal are the reigning European champions and they will carry confidence from their success two years ago into the tournament in Russia.

They will also face Morocco and Iran in Group B but their opener against their neighbours and fellow European heavyweights has been the prime focus of their build-up.

Spain triumphed the last time the sides met in the World Cup, in South Africa eight years ago. The Spaniards also have the better head-to-head record between the countries, having won 16 of their 35 meetings, compared to Portugal’s six.

Ye t with a strong group of players of which Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading light, midfielder Joao Moutinho feels Portugal are ready for the challenge.

He said: “We expect an extremely strong and united team that will create great difficulties, but we will want to play our game and hope to emerge victorious.

“We have a strong, united and focused group that knows what its responsibilities are.”