Jose Mourinho believes all the pressure will be on Russia in the World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia.
The hosts last win came on Oct. 7 when they beat South Korea 4-2 in a friendly in Moscow and president Vladimir Putin this week raised the stakes when he said that "our team have not achieved big results in recent times."
Despite being ranked three places lower in the rankings, Russia are favorites for the match at the Luzhniki Stadium and Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, feels they need to deliver in front of an expectant nation.
"There will be huge pressure for Russia," Mourinho said in an interview for RT. "They start the World Cup at home and the world is watching them and the big chance to qualify (for the round of 16) is to beat Saudi Arabia. In spite of some talent Saudi Arabia is a naive team from a different reality and Russia has to win it."
Saudi Arabia go into the game on the back of three straight defeats, but they showed enough in narrow losses to Italy and Germany that they could challenge Russia and Egypt for the runners-up spot behind Group A favorites Uruguay.
This is Saudi Arabia's fifth appearance at the finals and their first since 2006. The high point was a run to the last 16 in 1994 which was achieved on the back of group wins over Morocco and Belgium, the Green Falcons' only wins at the finals in 13 matches.
