TURNED THE PAGE
Red Dragons flying high without Bale
IF anything speaks volumes for the job being done by Rob Page it is surely that he has positioned a second generation Wales squad just 90 minutes from a major tournament.
Gareth Bale’s Boy’s Own feats in the Red Dragons shirt will have a lasting impact on the national side.
But in Cardiff tonight, those to whom he passed the torch can fulfil the manager’s promise to the country by rising to the occasion on a crackling evening and book their passage to Germany.
Page said: “This shows how far we have come in such a short space of time.
“We’re only one tournament past Gareth’s retirement – and we are one win away from qualifying for the Euros. We wouldn’t have qualified for the World Cup without Gareth. If you look back to the semi-final and final play-off games, he scored three goals to get us there.
“But then he wouldn’t have played at the World Cup without his team-mates.
“So, yes, we had one of the world’s best footballers.
“We are now introducing young players without worldclass players such as Gareth and Aaron Ramsey – so that shows we are in a good place.
“That’s where we are now.
“It’s significant – and it shows the strength in depth and quality we have coming through. So, it would be a great achievement to qualify.
“We’ve now got a young group of players who have tasted major tournaments and want more.”
Those play-off triumphs over Austria and Ukraine led to Wales reaching their first World Cup in 64 years when they qualified for Qatar.
In particular, the tension surrounding the game against the war-torn state ramped up the pressure on Page’s players to get over the line.
He believes having successfully charted a way through that task, his squad can reproduce the feat in similar one-off circumstances.
He added: “There were complexities around the Ukraine situation – we could all see what was going on – we tried to strip the emotions away from it. We don’t have that this time.
“We dealt with it and came out the other side – so we have proved in the past we can cope with situations like this and we need to prove we can do again. The players know what’s at stake. They’ll be fired up.
“They’re ready to go, trust me. It’s about keeping them calm, if anything. We need 11 on the pitch to get the job done. We must throw full focus on the job at hand.”
Page is likely to name a largely unchanged team tonight from the one that ran in four goals against Finland last Thursday.
He may swap his hand up front with Dan James pushing strongly to start. But the Wales head coach is convinced the power of the collective – in which he includes the Cardiff crowd – will win the day.
Page added: “I know what we have got in that changing room. I know we are all in it together.
“I know that the players enjoy the way we want to play. I’ve got players who thrive on that.
“Yes, it’s still a work in progress. But these players have bought into it and they love it.
“The reaction we’ve had from them since September – seven unbeaten – is incredible.
“And the Red Wall can help. They need to do what they have been doing – they took the roof off with the anthem the other day.
“Let’s get this across the line and do it together.”