‘It is a cruel game’ – Coleman warns Wales stars

After all, there’s a European Championship journey to continue.

What about Wales and Northern Ireland?

Asked if claiming top spot gave Wales a better chance of progressing deep into the tournament, he said: “It definitely does”.

Few will relish facing Bale.

For Bale, who is also the tournament’s leading scorer with three goals, it felt like a seminal moment in his career.

Chris Coleman wants his Wales players to keep their feet on the ground.

“It was great to top the group, but it wasn’t about being above England, it was getting through to the last 16, ” Coleman said.

“Against Russia we passed the ball tremendously well and could have scored more in the end”. The draw should hold no major concerns for them and once a team are into the quarter-finals, anything can happen.

Chester only linked up with the Welsh team a couple of years ago and since his inclusion, the mantra has been to take one game at a time, which he feels is the ideal way to look at things as they approach the Round of 16 clash with the third-placed side from Group C or D in Paris on June 25.

“We passed the ball better than we did against England, attacked a lot better and were a lot fitter”.

I would love Dzeko to come to Wearside as this is the calibare of player we should be aiming at for me. They do care, the only difference is Wales took the Lions share (bad pun alert) of their chances and we didn’t. First time I ever played with Michael was in the under-21s, against Scotland in a friendly in Northern Ireland and he did the same that night.

“He was a great shot-stopper, ” Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans said.

I understand the negativity to a point, because we failed to beat Slovakia or Russian Federation while only just beating Wales in the last minute, but I disagree with the accusation that England showed less passion than Wales.

Wales will next play either Hungary or Belgium in the quarterfinals in Lille on Friday. Then it would be a semifinal against Switzerland, Poland, Croatia or Portugal – having avoided the side of the draw featuring holder Spain and former champions France, Germany and Italy.

He said: “We wanted to make a statement, putting Welsh football on the map, to show what we are capable of doing”. Maybe it is more favorable. “But it is not favourable if you don’t get through”. When Northern Ireland traveled to the 1986 World Cup, it left early after failing to advance from the group stage.

But Coleman has told his Wales players they can not afford to become overconfident, especially in the knockout stages where there is no margin for error.

“We created loads of opportunities and can be proud of what we have achieved so far”.