"Our transition to this formation [with five defenders] was painful... We had to convince the footballers that it is the only possible option. But we had to do it. Thanks to the guys for understanding how it's done. I had never before spoken with each of the players personally so much, because I had to explain everything to every one of them down to the millimeter. But it worked and we won," Cherchesov told journalists.

The 54-year-old specialist also substituted Artem Dzyuba, who scored Russia's only goal from the penalty spot in normal time, with his fellow striker Fedor Smolov 65 minutes into the game.

"That was the original plan. Spain's central defenders were playing close to our penalty area, so we needed a forward who could run fast. Dzyuba could have played for another 5 to 10 minute, but we didn't want to take the risk," Cherchesov added.