We have to beat Suarez to punch

ASHLEY WILLIAMS is confident of limiting Luis Suarez after previously expressing a desire to knock out the Barcelona forward.

Everton’s Williams will captain Wales against Suarez’s Uruguay in today’s China Cup final as he looks to lift silverware with his country in Ryan Giggs’ first tournament as manager.

In 2012 Williams, then at Swansea, faced Suarez at Liverpool. In his book, the centre-half wrote: “Suarez has an aura about him that says, ‘I’m untouchable’, and his manner and behaviour made me want to knock him out.

“The manner in which he approached the game, with utter contempt for us all, means that he’s streets ahead of any player I’ve truly disliked.”

As he prepares to go head-to-head with Suarez again, Williams believes shutting down the striker will be the key to Wales’ hopes of halting Uruguay and winning the competition.

“Suarez is always a tough opponent. I said at the time he’s the hardest striker I’ve had to play against in the Premier League,” said Williams. “He’s one of the best strikers in the world and I’m expecting a difficult game. But these are the games you want to be playing in, against some of the best players in the world.”

Williams skippered Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and has stayed as leader after Giggs’ appointment.

The 33-year-old will lift Wales’ first trophy since 1937 if his team beat Uruguay and he added: “We want to win the tournament. If we play to our potential we can get the job done. Winning this competition is something we set out to do. If we could achieve that we would be very proud. It is what we’ve worked on all week.”