体坛英语新闻：Spain line up Portugal and Russia friendlies to start World Cup preparations

MADRID, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish national team will play friendly games against Portugal and Russia in the next international break as they start their preparations for the 2018 World Cup finals.

Sports paper Diario AS confirms that the Spanish will take on Portugal in Atletico Madrid's recently opened Wanda Metropolitan Stadium on Friday, November 10th, with a following trip to take on Russia in Saint Petersburg.

The game against Portugal will see the two footballing neighbors go head to head and give fans a chance to see Cristiano Ronaldo play against a Spain side containing Real Madrid teammates such as Marco Asensio, Isco, Nacho Fernandez and Sergio Ramos.

Meanwhile the trip to Russia will be the first time Spain has played away to that nation in its current form, with the last time the Spanish faced the Russians away, being in 1971 when it formed part of the USSR.

The Spanish confirmed their qualification for the 2018 World Cup finals on October 6th with a 3-0 win over Albania and ended their campaign with a 1-0 win in Israel on Monday night topping their group with nine wins and a draw from 10 matches.