Happy hosts Russia wait for struggling Spain

MOSCOW The most successful Russia coach in recent times is among the multitude of people surprised the team is into a World Cup round of 16 game against Spain.

A host team exceeding expectation is waiting at Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday for the 2010 World Cup champion, which has been under fire in Spain.

Dutch coaching great Guus Hiddink guided Russia to the European Championship semifinals 10 years ago on a run stopped by a Spanish squad at the start of their title-winning era.

Hiddink visited the Russian squad for a pep talk at training translated — loosely and with added humour — by current coach Stanislas Cherchesov.

“You’re doing so far very well, unexpected for me, a little bit unexpected to be honest,” Hiddink told the group, which includes some players he worked with a decade ago.

Russia kicked off the World Cup as the lowest-ranked team, but used momentum from an opening 5-0 rout of Saudi Arabia to beat Egypt 3-1. A 3-0 loss against Uruguay was a reality check, and creative midfielder Alan Dzagoev is still missing after injuring a hamstring early in the first game.

Spain has settled after some pre-tournament turmoil when Julen Lopetegui was fired because he took the vacant Real Madrid job without information the national federation. An opening 3-3 thriller against Portugal was followed by a tight 1-0 win over Iran. A 2-2 draw with Morocco needed a late equalizer confirmed by video review.