Fab four reunion
I CANNOT WAIT TO GET BAND BACK TOGETHER... WE HAVE A CHEMISTRY AND WE’RE READY TO RECREATE WALES’ SPIRIT OF EURO 2016 IN QATAR AARON RAMSEY EXCLUSIVE
AARON RAMSEY is determined to get the band back together for a Wales reunion gig in Qatar that will reprise all their Euro 2016 greatest hits.
Four of the likely survivors from six years ago are now over 30 and are spread far and wide as the countdown to the World Cup begins.
But 31-year-old Ramsey – these days calling the tune in France with Nice – is confident that 33-year-old Gareth Bale,
Wayne Hennessey, 35, and
Joe Allen, 32 (right), can still make beautiful music together.
“There’s plenty more years left in the old band yet,” insisted Ramsey, who was at Arsenal in 2016 when Wales reached the semi-finals of the European Championship in France, but has since rocked his stuff at Juventus and Rangers.
Bale is making no more than occasional bit-part appearances in the MLS with Los Angeles FC, Hennessey has not played a Premier League game for Nottingham Forest all season while Allen has not featured in the Championship for
Swansea City since mid-September because of injury.
But get the band back in the same room and something strange and magical happens, says Ramsey.
“We have a special chemistry between the players,” he said.
“We have created something that is unique.
“I think the older players have now also passed that down to the younger boys. We will be able to keep that going and prolong that feeling for as long as we can.
“The new players who have come into the squad have all bought into it. It’s pretty special and a pleasure to be a part of.”
For Wales, the parallels between 2016 and 2022 are clear. They will be at a tournament finals none of them has ever been to before, they made it on the back of fervent home support in Cardiff through their qualifiers and they are in the same group as England.
Little surprise, then, that the Wales management are trying to ease their thirtysomethings core contingent through events in Qatar by copying most of the model that served them well six years ago. “In
France at
Euro 2016, everything from the pitches to the way the gym was set up and our facility where we were staying – it all flowed really nicely,” said Ramsey, who was a key player in Wales’ World Cup play-off victory over Ukraine
in the summer, but missed last month’s
Nations League matches against Belgium and Poland through a hamstring injury.
“There was a lot of thought and process put into every little detail back then. It definitely helped us.
“Things like recovery were made really easy for us and it all felt really comfortable, in Dinard especially.”
Wales will be hoping
Ramsey can maintain his fitness after making 11 appearances for his
French club so far this campaign – only seven fewer than he managed in the whole of last season for Juventus and then on loan at Rangers.
He said: “I missed the pre-season again in France so I was thrown in at the deep end. I only arrived 10 days or so before my debut.
“It’s about getting a bit of consistency and building up minutes so I feel really good.
“We have a few weeks left before the start of the World Cup, so, hopefully, I can get some more minutes on the pitch and help the team as much as I can.
“I want to get to my best fitness levels as quickly as I can.”
Ramsey is not the only Welshman preparing for Qatar through playing across the Channel.
Tottenham defender Joe Rodon is
on loan at Nice’s Ligue 1 rivals Rennes, although Ramsey says they are yet to meet up and compare
their French language s k i l l s . “My French is coming on very slowly at the moment. But I know Joe is enjoying himself,” said Ramsey.
“He’s playing a lot of games, and obviously they’re doing well. That’s brilliant for him and for Wales.
“I know he’s enjoying playing regularly and hopefully he’ll be in top shape come the World Cup.”
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