Wales coach Chris Coleman believes next summer’s Euro 2016 clash with England in France has the potential of being ‘a firecracker of a game’.
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But it is also throws up one of the toughest fixtures of the group stage: England are ranked ninth in the world and Wales 17th, the best-rated of all the sides in pot 4 of the draw.
Coleman, speaking in Paris ahead of the draw, told Press Association Sport: “It is freakish that we were top seeds for the World Cup draw and bottom seeds for this one”. “They haven’t dropped down the rankings that much so you’re talking about them, the top-ranked team in the world and Sweden”.
“I was so honoured and proud to be here, representing Wales was a fantastic feeling”.
“I think it’s going to be tough whoever we get but I think our performances against the big teams are always where we do well so we can look forward with confidence and hopefully we can go there and achieve”, added Michael.
The easiest group Roy Hodgson’s men could hope for would include Ukraine, Hungary and Northern Ireland. With English Premier League stars Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany, Belgium is expected to go deep in the tournament, while Italy will count on its traditional stubbornness to advance despite some aging players.
Republic of Ireland will also feature after they qualified through the play-offs. The winners and runners-up in each group will qualify for the knockout phase as well as the four best third-placed sides – meaning that only eight teams will be eliminated in the group phase.
The Republic’s opener will be against Sweden on June 13 in Paris. Now we can take time out to study opposition players so that by the time of the games we know everything about them.
Hodgson said: “The Wales game is the one that’s going to excite the imagination”.
Home nations worst possible draw: France, Italy, Poland, Wales/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland.
“We don’t really want to play England in the group stage because it will all be about “we’ve got to beat England”.
Giovanni Trapattoni’s team failed to get a single point from its three group games in Poland and Ukraine in 2012. They’re not likely to make any kind of deep run in this one, but this Slovakia team is set up to punish any and all mistakes their opponent makes.
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“Qualification, the excitement of qualifying, the delight in qualifying, I think is still there”.
