Russia head coach Stanislav Cherchesov said that the national football team is entering "a new era" with an away match against Turkey here on Friday.
Russia and Turkey are meeting on Friday at the over 43,000-seat capacity Senol Gunes Stadium in Trabzon as part of the inaugural UEFA Nations League tournament, reports Tass news agency.
The match will be the first international fixture for the Russian team after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in which they reached the quarter-finals.
"There is a great difference if we compare it (the upcoming match) with the World Cup," Cherchesov told a news conference on Thursday. "Back then we had a month of training to get ready, while we had a couple of days only as of now."
"We are missing several players on the squad due to various reasons," the Russian coach continued. "We believe in all the footballers that we have summoned for this match, and only the best will be on the starting line-up."
"We will be flying the same national flag and will have to uphold the level that we attained at the World Cup," Cherchesov said. "Tomorrow, we are entering a new era and new tasks are ahead of us."
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