In the Rugby World Cup, Wales will face Australia, while the Welsh football team play their match against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Euro 2016 Group B qualifier.
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Gareth Bale has been involved in eight of Wales’ nine goals in qualifying (six goals, two assists).
“Unfortunately when he passed the gaffer, Chris Coleman came in, and he’s taken that on and beyond”. Ashley Williams, their captain, has been a huge part of that.
“We prepare the exact same way whether top or bottom of the group and we are not thinking beyond Saturday”.
Bosnia-Herzegovina won its last qualification match 3 – 0 against Andorra. Was it frustrating to have to wait?
“But to be honest as I see it now it isn’t so much a case of how many, but what we achieve”.
England lack the grit and determination Wales have shown to reach 8 in the world rankings. After an understandably slow start, Coleman has taken Wales out of the darkness with a young and rapidly maturing team that is now ready to perform on the big stage. I remember Romania [1993] and the Russian Federation campaign [2003], the closer we get over the years, the more these questions seem to come.
How important is Gareth Bale?
A defeat would severely dent if not destroy that dream so the stakes are higher for Wales’s opponents, something that could make them more unsafe.
“Before that there wasn’t really a desire to win, to be the best, and to do as well as you can”.
“Yeah, I think that’s exactly what it is”. “It was a nice 20 minutes to open it up and get the legs going ready for the next two games”.
Chris Gunter, Wales defender: “It’s been a hard time”.
Boss Badarevi added: “We have the strength and quality and we are the better team than Wales”. The names you mention, and Jazz Richards – who is in the [national] team now and has just left for Fulham – we obviously know each other. The way he celebrated his late victor against Cyprus, running to Coleman and the Wales bench with an expression of sheer, absolute joy told its own story.
“We’ve always had the belief to do it, it’s just putting those performances together in a string of games”.
Eyebrows were raised when Real Madrid made Bale the world’s most expensive player and at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium he has to complete with multitalented teammates and Cristiano Ronaldo’s ego.
“We’ve not qualified for a tournament for a long time, which is why no Welsh player has got to 100 caps”. You can not have four men deciding on new players, though it means individuals only had 25 percent of the blame for Mario Balotelli. It’s a tricky away tie in Bosnia up first though – can you secure it there?
“I think we had opportunities where, even though we did come from behind, we dominated periods of the game and created lots of chances, so it did feel a little bit like two points dropped”. Obviously it’s going to be a hard game in Bosnia – they’re a good team with obvious good players and qualities. “We’re on the verge of making history and our focus is on getting the job done”.
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Edin Dzeko has seven goals in qualifying.
