Bale played a major role in helping his country to their first global tournament for 58 years, scoring seven and assisting a further two of Wales’ 11 goals in qualifying.
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Winger Gareth Bale was quick to play down the idea that Welsh fortunes at Euro 2016 in France rested on his shoulders after the team heavily relied on the Real Madrid winger to guide them to their first worldwide tournament finals since 1958.
“It is unbelievable what Wales have done”.
They are now having injury issues with three key players – Allen, Joe Ledley, and Hal Robson-Kanu – but Coleman is adamant that only one of them will play.
“I think Gareth is one of the best players in the world”.
“They wouldn’t have won those games if the defence hadn’t have been huge and not conceded”.
Much of the attention will be on star men Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey but the Wales boss wants to get back to what he feels proved successful in the qualifying campaign.
“They are strong, they have got that belief, and they have got what Leicester have had this year”. This should get through more than 2 in 3 times so it is value and I think it is also quite a safe bet.
Wales start their Euro 2016 campaign on Saturday against Slovakia.
England qualified with a 100 per cent but Roy Hodgson’s young side have received critics for some of the performances in the warm-up games.
He said: “What I do know about tournament football is that when the whistle goes it is not the team that goes into it in great form that will rip the tournament up”.
“I would probably have to say Ryan Giggs”, he answered.
“It is a group in which the matches will be even and we want to enjoy the tournament”. There is no pressure on us.
“We’ve done something awesome our country hasn’t done in a long time, but now we want to do even better”.
We have got to remember what got us here, ‘ Coleman said.
The two sides face each other in the second round of group stage matches, and it is sure to be a fiercely contested affair.
It will be tough but I think Leicester have really shown the outside football world that with the right spirit and with the right manager and then a little bit of quality, an outsider can go and win a competitive trophy.
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But Wales lost that Cardiff game 5-1, and there have been plenty of dark days on the field as the current generation matured into the players they are today.
