Cristiano Ronaldo insisted Portugal were worthy winners after scoring his first goal of the Confederations Cup to steer his country to a 1-0 victory over hosts Russian Federation on Wednesday.
Ronaldo did not join his teammates on the pitch on Thursday as he was among a group of players given a rest after Wednesday's match.
Russia, third in Group A behind Mexico and Portugal, need to beat the Mexicans in their final group stage match on Saturday in Kazan to advance to the semi-finals. "We're not just going there to play against Portugal and Ronaldo, we're going there to get a result".
Coming into the match off the back of a comfortable 2-0 win over minnows New Zealand, Cherchesov's men sought to exert early pressure in order to expose Portugal's wimpering back line.
This will be the first senior meeting between eighth-ranked Portugal, and New Zealand, who are 95th - sandwiched between Guatemala and Madagascar.
It was their first goal in 555 minutes of Confederations Cup football before Raul Jimenez and Oribe Peralta scored second-half goals for Mexico as the Kiwis faded.
Mexican media said the chant was heard again on Sunday when Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio took goal kicks, though on a smaller scale than in the past.
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The player led Real Madrid to victory in both Spanish and European competition titles, namely La Liga and Champions League. Mourinho was accused by a state prosecutor of defrauding Spain's Tax Office of $3.7 million.
"I'm just so pleased to be playing for my favourite team", the 140-cap veteran added.
"Everybody wants to watch Cristiano Ronaldo, even I want to watch Cristiano Ronaldo", the coach said Friday, smiling when asked how Russia's enthusiasm for the current world's best player compared to other countries.
"For us it was very important to get three points against New Zealand and now against the hosts we feel that we have a great chance".
The 56-year-old had a heated argument with one of New Zealand's assistant coaches after Mexico's Carlos Salcedo went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.
"But things changed in the second half and we created several good chances".
New Zealand played on, went down the other end and almost scored, with the Mexicans urging their opponents to stop the game.
Before the game Mexican coach Juan Carlos Osorio had described the All Whites as "gentlemen" but he bemoaned that 'the game was really rough, almost violent and I think that's unacceptable'. "We need to control the game and to show to ourselves, especially, that we can compete under such hard circumstances".
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