It has been a contrasting campaign for both the teams with Wales enjoying dominance in their matches preceding the all-important semis clash.
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Morris has only missed one of his team’s five games in France – the last-16 win over Northern Ireland – but he was there in Lille on Friday as Wales stunned Belgium with a 3-1 win in the quarterfinals. “If Pepe is 100 percent, I will think about it so he can be in the starting 11”. “It’ll be hard and I’m not thinking about the final too much, but if we get there, then I’ll be trying to go”.
But generations of Wales fans who have waited a lifetime to see their team in a major tournament are now just one game from a final at the Stade de France on Sunday.
Both sides in Wednesday’s semi-final will fancy their chances of reaching the final. It should also be pointed out that only once have Portugal gone on to reach a final and that was in Euro 2004, when they lost to Greece, of course. Are you frikkin kidding me???
Bale and his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the build-up to the semi-final showdown in Lyon.
“We didn’t have that from the start and that’s been a massive positive for us because this team has played with a real freedom”. The former Tottenham star has been superb over the last couple of weeks, with the rate at which he has contributed to or scored Welsh goals more than halving to 40 per cent but the scale of his overall input to the team nearly off the scale.
Portugal coach, Fernando Santos: “Of course, Wales and Iceland are the teams everyone likes, because nobody expected them to get this far”, Santos told reporters at the French Rugby Federation’s headquarters on the outskirts of Paris where Portugal are now based. Bale has had 14 shots on target this tournament, more than any player.
“Wales have Gareth but they are without Aaron Ramsey”.
Wales are some way off them but then Portugal lack real quality too and a great deal here will come down to who performs on the night. “We are all now celebrating your success, and hope it continues through to the final”. “I fully believed that we could do something”.
Coleman added: “I remember Ronaldo when I was at Fulham as a manager, and he scored in the last minute, beat us 2-1 when we were fine and comfortable”.
Jordan Thomas, from Llandudno Junction, said: “Me and a friend travelled early yesterday morning to Birmingham from Llandudno junction”.
“The principle is how far you go with having other people on the pitch than the players. I can give you loads of sob stories about my time at Coventry but actually, if I’m honest, I could have done better”.
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Chris Coleman’s men have picked up big wins when it has mattered most, first to ensure they topped Group B in front of England and then to despatch Belgium in the quarter-finals.
