Russia edged out 2010 World Cup winners Spain on penalties, but had only 25 percent of possession during the match and made 284 passes as opposed to Spain's 1,137. The host nation went on to lose to Croatia, also in a penalty shootout, in the last eight.

“Against Spain, as far as I understand, the entire team was defending, so it’s probably not quite right to call it playing proper football… Of course the fact that the team went this far deserves admiration, but you asked me about the game and not the result… If we are talking about the result, we, of course, can say that the team made history, it only deserves respect, praise and people being proud of them,” Filimonov told journalists.

He also said that, in the match against Croatia, the team “gave it all and tried hard,” adding that he did not watch Russia beat Saudi Arabia and Egypt in their opening World Cup games.