“Everybody knows that Russia is a high-quality team. And I did not need to watch a big number of its games to understand it,” he added.

And it’s not only the personalities of coach Guus Hiddink and star-striker Andrey Arshavin that he was talking about.

“I do not want to go into personals in our conversation. Whatever people say, your team is strong first of all with its team play. It is senseless to pick out one man, even Arshavin – there are too many good players on your team,” the 48-year-old explained.

“I do not want to speculate on the grandeur of the coach or the team separately. The Russian national team is a tandem consisting of a great coach and excellent team,” he added.

The first game is to be played at Luzhniki stadium. It has an artificial pitch, which usually worries Russia’s opponents, but Kek stressed that it won’t be the decisive factor on Saturday.

“I know that in Luzhniki the turf is artificial. I have never played on such a ground before. But the pitch will be the same both for Russia and for Slovenia. So I do not quite understand the significance of this factor – it influences neither the technical characteristics of the players nor the team’s cooperation,” he said.

Matjaz Kek was appointed Slovenia’s coach in 2007. His team failed to qualify for Euro 2008, but did well in the Word Cup campaign, coming second after Slovakia in their group and leaving such strong rivals like the Czech Republic and Poland behind.

Russia is the next task on Kek’s way, with the Slovenian Prime Minister promising to polish the boots of the players if they get the better of Guus Hiddink’s men.

“The goal of Slovenia is to show high-class football in both fixtures so that no viewer is left disappointed,” Kek explained.

“If Russia wins the opposition on the football pitch I would only be happy and will be the first to congratulate them and wish them good luck in South Africa. But believe me, Russia is not the only one wishing to participate in World Cup 2010,” he added.