Spain meets rival Portugal, concern levels rise for the Spanish team with a last minute coach change

Compared to Spain’s coaching chaos, the distractions created by Cristiano Ronaldo have become almost meaningless for Portugal.

Spain will play its opening World Cup match against the European champions today with a coach who has been on the job for only two days.

Fernando Hierro, a former national team player who had been acting as the national team’s sports director in Russia, will coach the squad following Spanish federation’s shocking decision to fire Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday.

Nine of the players who started in the Euro 2016 final against France are back for the World Cup, with the only absences being veteran forward Nani and young midfielder Renato Sanches.

In total, 13 players from the Euro 2016 squad are in Russia.