Dynamo Moscow former head coach Sergey Silkin told Sputnik on Saturday that Portugal was "very lucky" to have a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in Friday's FIFA World Cup group match against Spain.
The match between reigning European champions Portugal and 2010 World Cup winners Spain took place at Sochi's Fisht Stadium and ended in a 3-3 draw.
"Portugal and Spain have produced the brightest match of this World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo has shown his skill scoring three goals... Portugal are very lucky to have such a player in their team," Silkin said over the phone.
Two days before Spain played their first match at the tournament, the team's head coach Julen Lopetegui had been sacked and replaced the same day by Fernando Hierro.
"The head coach replacement did not affect Spain, Fernando Hierro... did a good job, he did not change the team's play, leaving everything as it was under [the management of] Julen Lopetegui," Silkin said.
The games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held at 12 stadiums across 11 Russian cities till July 15. Portugal and Spain are playing in Group B alongside Morocco and Iran.
Portugal's next game will be against Morocco on June 20, while Spain are set to face Iran the same day.
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