INNSBRUCK, May 29 (Sputnik) - Russia head coach Stanislav Cherchesov said Tuesday that he would not underestimate his team's opponents at the group stage of the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Russia will play Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in Group A.
"I watched the [Saudi Arabia - Italy] game... We are studying our opponents. They [Saudi Arabia] have been playing completely different football with their new coach [Juan Antonio Pizzi], new players appear. All teams in the group are very skilled. It is clear that the levels of the teams are different, but we have never said there were any pushover teams. We are training calmly," Cherchesov told journalists.
Italy, who did not qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in a friendly on Monday.
Russia will play Austria in Innsbruck on Wednesday in their last but one warm-up match ahead of the World Cup before taking on Turkey in Moscow on June 5.
Russia's first-ever World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 arenas in 11 cities across the country. Teams will play in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Yekaterinburg.
Russia and Saudi Arabia will play in the opening game of the tournament to be held at Moscow's 81,000-seater Luzhniki stadium.
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