"I liked New Zealand's team, but luckily we managed to cancel out their strengths and displayed ours", Cherchesov said.
Russian Federation go into the tournament opener as favorites but the question is: can the hosts, who have some young players both in defense and in attack, show their best under psychological pressure?
At number three, Germany is the highest ranked team in the Federation Internationale de Football Association rankings in the tournament and although they have taken a very inexperienced squad to Russia they are expected to impress as Jeggo explained: "They've got so much depth in their country".
The Confederations Cup match between Russian Federation and New Zealand will be broadcast live on FS1 and the FoxSoccer2Go apps, which you can access with your cable or satellite subscriptions. New Zealand never put Russian Federation under serious threat, with the hosts producing a convincing 2-0 victory in St. Petersburg. "Russian Federation is ready", Colin Smith, director of competitions for global soccer body FIFA, said at a news conference in St. Petersburg yesterday.
The last time Russian Federation fans were really celebrating was Euro 2008, when Guus Hiddink led the team to a quarter-final victory over Holland, leading to wild scenes of celebration on the streets of Moscow and the team being welcomed home as heroes despite a crushing semi-final defeat at the hands of Spain. Forward Fedor Smolov will try to terrorise the New Zealand defence from the opening whistle, with an early goal sure to calm any nerves for the home team.
Anthony Hudson: "I'd much rather be in our position than Russia's".
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Director Edwin van der Sar says it was not a hard decision because Keizer "knows the players, the organization and supports the club philosophy".
"We are focused on the task at hand, we are not going to get carried away with who we are playing". That's how it is. "Spasibo Rossiya (Thank you Russia)", he added.
New Zealand opted for a change on the hour-mark, as Kosta Barbarouses made for way Bill Tuiloma as they pushed for an equaliser.
It is also an opportunity for coach Stanislav Cherchesov and his side to show what they can do on the pitch, although they will face far greater tests in their next two outings than what New Zealand provided here.
The visitors have not had the best of warm-up games, losing by a 1-0 margin to both Belarus and Northern Ireland but will now be banking on Chris Wood, a prolific striker who plies his trade in the English Championship.
First, Aleksandr Samedov's corner found Viktor Vasin, whose diving header from 12 yards struck the inside the post before being hacked clear off the line by Michael McGlinchey. Our team welcomes Russia's president watching our matches. It will be televised live on ITV1 in the United Kingdom and FOX Sports 1 in the United States.
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