Marco Rossi: We fought like lions on the pitch

Rossi emphasised after the match that nothing more than a draw could have been gained from this match, and that he was very proud of his players for defending to the best of their ability.

"It was our hardest match of the three fixtures in October," Rossi admitted after the final whistle. "The Russian players are physically very strong and their speed and physical abilities caused us a lot of difficulties so we had to suffer a lot on the pitch in the second half to maintain the result. During this period, our opponent came close to scoring, but my players fought like lions on the pitch and didn’t give up the fight for even a second, instead helping each other all the way, and that’s why I’m very proud of them, because I think that’s the most important thing, whatever the outcome of the match in the end. More than this draw could not have been achieved from this match, so I am pleased not only with the fighting spirit and their battling, but also with the result. We wanted to put pressure on our opponent, to attack them in their own half but precisely because of their aforementioned physical strength, we didn’t have the opportunity to do so, especially in the second half. We’ve seen what we need to improve, but I also have to add that it’s not often that we’ll play against a team with such outstanding physical attributes as this Russian national team".

Answering a question from journalists, Rossi stated he believes their opponent in November's European Championship qualifying play-off final, Iceland, play a different style of football and possess different strengths to those of their recent rivals.

"We've been watching Iceland for months, so we know what to expect from them. They are stronger than the Bulgarians, but they are not on the same level as the Russian and Serbian national teams. They play in a classic 4-4-2 formation and make good use of their strengths. We expect them to cause us difficulty with their tall, strong players at set-pieces and from high balls," Rossi concluded.