Coleman blames Cyprus trip for bore draw with Israel

Wales manager Chris Coleman has insisted that qualification for Euro 2016 is close to being finalised.

Wales will have to wait to secure a historic qualification for next year’s European Championship after a frustrating 0-0 draw with Israel at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.

Wales have leapfrogged their old rivals in the Federation Internationale de Football Association world rankings, now ninth to England’s 10th and while England are already confirmed for France next summer, Coleman’s men are on the brink, requiring just one more point. “They made it very hard for us but it’s another point”.

Israel will pose an attacking threat, so it will not be an easy game for Wales, who will be determined not to crack under the pressure and weight of expectation.

“If someone else is going to do a little bit of work for you, then why not?”

“We all know what the possibilities are and what it’s going to be like”, Coleman said on Saturday.

“They saw the incredible 4,000 following we had tonight, but we must never ever take our eye off the goal”.

“It was my plan to sit here now in front of you with one point”, he told his post-match press conference.

In Sunday’s other match, Bosnia-Herzegovina hosts Andorra and needs a win to stand a chance of a top-two finish.

Popular United Kingdom brand Bet365 has announced it has a number of live feeds of games throughout Europe, as well as betting in play as punters and fans alike can take in all the action.

The home side returned for the second half with renewed vigour but Israel’s defence, led by Tal Ben Haim, continued to deny them and it started to look like Wales would need some divine intervention from Bale to find the victor.

“In the past we’d have lost a game like that”.

He could be soaking up the plaudits right now had Eytan Tibi’s blatant handball been spotted by an assistant just yards away.

Andy King twice went close, Gareth Bale forced an excellent late save from Israel goalkeeper Ofir Marciano and substitute Simon Church had a header rightly disallowed in the final seconds.

“If that’s the case and we came out on top, great, but we’ll stick to what we’ve been working on and stay calm and focused”.

“I think we could have snatched a win at the end, but we got the point we wanted and we are looking ahead to the matches against Cyprus and Belgium”.

“Obviously we are disappointed not to have qualified yet”, he said.

Few would bet against the 26-year-old Bale, who has 18, eventually overhauling him and thereby gathering more votes as the best Welshman of all time.

“Israel normally play with lot of imagination and excitement, but they didn’t want to get beat”. They should have enough to get the point they need but, for now, the wait goes on and the champagne remains on ice.