BLOW RON AWAY, BALE
WALES manager Chris Coleman says there will be ‘no love lost’ between Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo when they face off for a place in the Euro 2016 final.
Bale and Portugal’s Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive players costing a combined £ 166million, have won two Champions League titles in three years together at Real Madrid and much is expected of them in Wednesday’s semifinal in Lyon. Coleman said: ‘They are two of the best players on the planet who know each other very well. There won’t be any love lost on the evening for both teams, not just Gareth and Cristiano.
‘I don’t think Balo will look at this and think he has to impress anyone just because of who the opposition is. We have to remember where Gareth has been, the games he has played, the stages he has performed on. He will see this as another big test. Whoever is on the pitch is in our way, and we have to find a route past them.’
Coleman will not implement
From Back Page any specific plan to stop Ronaldo, other than his team’s usual approach to defending as a group, which proved so successful when they beat Belgium on Friday night in Lille. Despite falling behind early on to a rocket shot from Radja Nainggolan, Wales hit back to win 3-1 against a side containing such attacking threats as Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to claim a place in their first semi-final at a major tournament. Coleman added: ‘I could work my defenders for the next month, drilling them about Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has the capability to do something unstoppable. That’s the danger. But we have one in our team, too. It balances itself out. We will just concentrate on what we’re good at and stick to our game plan. ‘It is new territory for us. You can either be blinded by the lights, shrink and crawl back into the corner of wherever we came from. Or you can have a bit of belief in yourself and prepare to stand up for your identity. ‘That is what we were excited about coming here, to see exactly where we are and what we are capable of. What is the fear? Fear to me is put into people from outside influences when you spend so much time concentrating on what you don’t want to happen, rather than on exactly what you do want. ‘The message to our players right the way through has been, “No fear, express yourselves, enjoy it”. But if we go into the next one and think “This is so nice, haven’t we done well”, then this Portugal lot will turn us over. They will beat us. If we go in with the mentality that it doesn’t matter because the country have had such a good time watching us, it is over before we kick a ball. It is all behind us. We have a huge chance here.’