“There are young players in the Russian [national football] team who are good on the ball. They have changed their style of play in recent matches... I hope they [Russia] will play well at the tournament” Lucescu told journalists.

He added that he was impressed by forwards Fedor Smolov and Artem Dzyuba, midfielders Daler Kuzyaev and Aleksandr Samedov, as well as by defender Igor Smolnikov.

The veteran Romanian coached Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg for one season between 2016 and 2017.

Russia will play Turkey at the CSKA Arena in Moscow in their final warm-up match ahead of the FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.

The tournament will take place from June 14 to July 15 in 11 cities across Russia, with the hosts set to play Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in Group A. Turkey failed to qualify for the World Cup finals.