Juan Carlos Osorio: 'Mexico fight until the bitter end'

Mexico head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has praised his side's willingness to fight "until the bitter end" following their 2-1 Confederations Cup victory over Russia.

Goals from Nestor Araujo and Hirving Lozano overturned Alexander Samedov's opener at Kazan Arena and clinched El Tri's place in the semi-finals along with Group A winners Portugal.

"We knew it would be a very hard game against a very strong opponent," Osorio told his post-match press conference. "They are the hosts and they really needed to win this game. They had everything to win and nothing to lose.

"I think we played very well... We could have scored more goals if we had been able to circulate the ball better but we understand that our lads maybe had too much adrenaline. We deserved this victory and we're really happy.

"I think, in some cases, the opponents scored very quickly [in other matches] even if they maybe didn't deserve it. But our squad has shown again how resistant we are. We fight very hard, until the end, as we've seen in all the games we've played.

"This is something Mexican players really care about. We really care about giving everything until the bitter end. We play with strength, virility and spirit. Hirving fought for everything against the goalkeeper and really deserved that goal."

Mexico, the 2015 CONCACAF Cup winners, are playing in the Confederations Cup for the sixth time.