"We didn't know anything about Iran, because we just appointed a head coach, even about the placement and the game with standards - nothing at all. We only watched that coach's games at the clubs.

With Iraq, it's easier with that. The coaches played five matches under the new one and watched everything. They use either a 4-2-3-1 or 5-3-1-1 formation. But schemes don't play football. Fixation on them leads to the fact that you forget about the players. There is more information on Iraq than on Iran, "Sport-Express quoted Karpin as saying.

The match Russia - Iraq will be held on March 26 in St. Petersburg at the Gazprom Arena. The beginning is 18:00 Moscow time.

On March 23, Russia and Iran drew 1-1 at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Earlier, Karpin said that goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov would miss a friendly match with Iraq.