KOBE (Japan), June 4: Russia coach Oleg Romantsev hinted on Tuesday that he would quit if his team failed to reach the second round of the World Cup.

“The minimum goal...is to qualify for the next round,” Romantsev told a news conference ahead of his team’s opening group H game against Tunisia on Wednesday in the western Japanese city of Kobe.

“Then everything will depend on how well our team plays at this tournament and what kind of opponents we have in the next game.

“It’s the same for any other team. If the team doesn’t qualify for the next stage the coaching staff just have to quit.”

Romantsev is under intense pressure to end a dismal recent World Cup record, with Russia getting knocked out in the first round in 1994 and failing to qualify in 1998.

A relatively easy draw against co-hosts Japan and Belgium as well as Tunisia has only increased expectations.

But Romantsev said that although the group was not the most difficult, it could be described as the most unpredictable.

“At any moment Tunisia could outplay any opponent, but they may also lose to a weaker opponent,” he said.—Reuters