Spain coach, Fernando Hierro has stated that he is not going to change the footballing concepts of his team when they clash with Portugal at the Fisht Stadium on Friday evening in the 2018 World Cup.
Hierro was appointed as Spain manager in the wake of Lopetegui’s dismissal on Wednesday for agreeing to take over Real Madrid after the World Cup.
The 50-year-old, however, admitted that Spain has respect for the European champions (Portugal) and their captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
“We are not going to deviate from our footballing concepts and what we’ve been doing for a long time now,” Hierro told a media conference in Sochi on Thursday.
“You’re going to see the Spanish squad that you’re used to, the Spanish squad that likes to be the protagonist in the match, that likes to play beautifully, and we have a very clear strategy in mind.
“We have a very clear goal in mind, we’ve worked for two solid weeks before the competition.
“We still have a lot of the coaching staff from before, we have our principles very clearly in mind, and we are not going to change that reality overnight.
“We need to respect the work that has been carried out over the last two weeks in the run-up,” the 50-year-old added.
“We respect the European champions (Portugal), we know that they have one of the best players in Ronaldo and a coach with experience, but we trust fully in our lads,” he added,
Spain are in Group B of the 2018 World Cup alongside Portugal, Morocco and Iran.
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