Jamie Redknapp previews Wales’ cruucial European Qualifier against
“We’ve always had the belief to do it, it’s just putting those performances together in a string of games”.
The Welsh, who lead Group B with 18 points from eight games, need one point from their remaining two fixtures to reach Euro 2016, with their final qualifier against Andorra in Cardiff on Tuesday.
Bale has been involved in eight of Wales’ nine goals in the competition – scoring six of them with two assists – but he said success was down to the unity within the squad and the work of manager Coleman.
Gunter insists the players can’t think about qualifying. Gunter, however, leads the way and, assuming the former Tottenham Hotspur player steers clear of injury, there is every chance he will go on to surpass Neville Southall, whose 92 appearances make him Wales’s most-capped player.
“I remember Romania [1993] and the Russian Federation campaign [2003], the closer we get over the years, the more these questions seem to come”. “We don’t talk about who will be first to 100 caps”.
Bale has won the award for a record fifth time and Coleman believes that the achievement is greatly deserved due to his fine form throughout the year for his team. It would be fantastic if any of us could get to that.
Gareth Bale is expected to be fit for Wales, with Chris Coleman seemingly prepared to throw him straight into the fray despite his recent absence from the Real Madrid lineup due to a calf injury.
‘We’ve been watching and we take a massive inspiration from when you see how well they have done and the character they have shown, ‘ said the Wolves midfielder. I watched the England game in Shrewsbury with my mate in a pub full of English people and we were very happy during that final 15 minutes. It’s a really tough game.
Fans have travelled overseas in large numbers and the atmosphere in the home matches at Cardiff City Stadium, in particular for the memorable 1-0 victory over Belgium in June, when there was a spine-tingling rendition of Land of My Fathers in the closing stages, has been something to behold and feels light years away from the John Toshack era, when Gunter would run out at the Millennium Stadium in front of a sprinkling of supporters.
“We’ll have about 800 fans out in Bosnia with us, hopefully we can celebrate with them but we also know there will be 33,000 to cheer us on against Andorra”.
“We know what’s happened in the past with Wales and the near misses are there as a reminder than in football even the most unlikely thing can happen until the job is done.
We’ve literally never been here before and all the way through we’ve kept our feet on the floor”, he said.