Putin's speech gave Russia 'great motivation,' says manager

The presence of Russia's controversial president Vladimir Putin helped spur the country's team onto victory over New Zealand in Saturday's Confederations Cup curtain-raiser, says team manager Stanislav Cherchesov.

Putin and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino addressed the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg from the VIP box when the players were lined up on the pitch before kick-off. It was a rather rushed affair, with Putin descending on his hometown's new $750-million venue by helicopter merely 20 minutes before the match began.

"Here, on modern football arenas there will be tough, honest, fair fight until the last minutes of the match," Putin said, as translated by ESPN FC, before stating his wish that the tournament would "unite nations and continents, to promote the values of fair and beautiful play."

A Michael Boxall own-goal and Fedor Smolov's self-orchestrated effort capped off an encouraging 2-0 win for Russia to begin the Confederations Cup, as Stefan Marinovic kept the score respectable with some impressive swats in the New Zealand goal.

Related - Confederations Cup: Russia comfortably beats New Zealand in opening match

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

For Russian boss Cherchesov, Putin's speech was a unique team talk that only served to inspire his ranks.

"When the president of our country comes out to make a speech it mobilises us and gives us great motivation, but it also adds to our responsibilities," Cherchesov told reporters.

"We achieved a very good result and at times a very good game. We played the match we have been planning for."

The Confederations Cup is often referred to as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup which follows a year later, and Russia has faced damning reports over its preparations for that 2018 showpiece. A fire had to be extinguished at the Volgograd Arena - a stadium slated to host four group matches at the World Cup - on Wednesday because of what the Emergencies Ministry deemed a "violation of fire safety regulations during welding." That blaze inconveniently occurred on the same day findings were released of 17 construction worker deaths, and various exploitation and labour violations during the building of venues.

Russia's next Group A clash is against a dangerous-looking Portugal at Spartak Moscow's Otkrytiye Arena on Wednesday.