Wales (National Football)

Chris Coleman has left his role as coach of Wales and is expected to become the new manager of EFL Championship side Sunderland.

The Football Association of Wales released a statement on their official website, confirming Coleman's immediate departure. The statement read:

"We are extremely disappointed to see Chris' tenure as Wales manager come to an end.

"The FAW and Wales as a nation will be eternally grateful for the job he has done over the last six years as National Team Manager, from travelling the length and breadth of Wales outside of the media spotlight to talk to players and supporters, to guiding us to the semi-finals of the European Championships.

"We wish Chris the very best of luck for the future as he returns to club management, a desire for which he has always been honest and open about."

Reuters (via Eurosport) reported Coleman "is now expected" to take over at the Black Cats.

Sunderland are bottom of the Championship after winning just once in 16 games and in desperate need of fresh leadership after being relegated from the Premier League last term.

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is set to miss Wales' crucial 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches with Georgia and Republic of Ireland due to injury. 

News the 28-year-old will sit out the vital doubleheader came via Sky Sports News on Tuesday:

Breaking: Wales forward Gareth Bale ruled out of World Cup European qualifiers against Georgia & Republic of Ireland. #SSN pic.twitter.com/51X5aH6aeT

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 3, 2017

Bale missed Real's clash with Espanyol on Sunday due to a calf problem he picked up against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, per PA Sport (h/t Sky Sports).

Speaking about the injury, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane suggested it wasn't serious.

"He could have played with us [against Espanyol], but I preferred to leave him out as he had a small complaint," per BBC Sport. "He's fine. After so many games at the start of the season and four months of injury, he was suffering after the game in Dortmund."

For Wales boss Chris Coleman, the news represents a huge blow, as the national team still face a major fight to keep their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup alive.

Two wins from their remaining two games would be good enough for Wales to secure a spot in the playoffs.

They face the Republic of Ireland, who are just a point behind in Group D, in their final match of the campaign on Monday; prior to that, the team faces a potentially tricky clash away at Georgia on Friday. Serbia are favourites to win the group, as they lead Wales by four points.

It'd be a tough ask for Wales to emerge from those two matches with six points at full strength, but it would be even tougher without their talisman.

As noted by Sky Sports Statto ahead of their clash with Serbia earlier in the campaign, the team's record without the Real Madrid man hasn't been the best:

Gareth Bale misses Wales v Serbia with suspension. Since 2006, Wales have won just 20% of competitive internationals without Bale (45% with) pic.twitter.com/wddLxm7Kcd

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) June 11, 2017

However, they went on to earn a creditable 1-1 draw in that clash, and they were able to put in a strong performance without the forward, as Sky Sports' Bryn Law stated:

Bale out a big blow but Serbia away was 1 of the best performances in the campaign and more talent has emerged since then #TogetherStronger

— Bryn (@BrynLaw) October 3, 2017

Even so, to not have Bale is a blow, as he has so often been the man to make the difference for his country in big games.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, will also be disappointed that another injury has hampered their No. 11. After a frustrating start to the season, there were positive recent signs from Bale that he was starting to recover some form, as he scored a stunning volley in the win over Borussia Dortmund.

The club will at least be pleased Bale is not taking any risks during the international break and will be hopeful he will be back at full fitness when La Liga starts up again.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were the eventual and deserving winners of the Euro 2016 semi-final in Lyon on Wednesday night, but for a beaten and emotionally drained Wales, there was the acknowledgement of a different kind of victory.

The battle for relevance, never mind prominence, on the international football stage is one that has long since consumed Welsh footballers of several vintages.

Since the country’s previous qualification for a major tournament in 1958, Wales teams full of terrifically talented players—often ones plying their trade at the top clubs in Britain—have fallen short in their attempts to rub shoulders with the elite. At Euro 2016, the Welsh didn’t just rub shoulders with the elite, they put their hands on their shoulders and leapfrogged them into the last four.

Surpassing the achievements of the likes of Spain, England, Italy and, of course, Belgium—thrillingly in that astonishing quarter-final in Lille—Wales created memories that will stay with their supporters for a lifetime, but that lifetime now has to start making experiences such as these less infrequent.

“Please don’t take me home” was a refrain often heard from the travelling Welsh fans while out in France, but it wasn’t their home towns or their families that they were trying to hide from, it was something more.

“Home” for the Welsh football team and supporters has been decades of underachievement, of near misses and of being treated as an afterthought in their own nation, which is widely perceived as being too obsessed with the national sport, rugby union, to bother with what is going on in the round-ball game.

But what has gone on is remarkable.

Less than five years ago, Wales sat 117th in the FIFA world rankings, a position that Niger, Thailand and Swaziland all currently hold together.

Twenty years ago, as 16 countries—12 of whom were in France—prepared for the European Championship in England, a Wales team featuring Ryan Giggs and current boss Chris Coleman were losing in a friendly to Leyton Orient, who’d just finished the English league season as the 89th-best side out of the 92 professional clubs.

Leyton Orient 2 Wales 1. May 1996. #context #Euro2016 pic.twitter.com/ureUT2z9mA

— mirkobolesan (@mirkobolesan) July 5, 2016

The sudden and shocking death of then national team manager Gary Speed in November 2011 gives this story a very emotional, very human turn, and there hasn’t been a moment which has gone by since then that Speed wasn’t uppermost in the thoughts of everyone within the Welsh setup.

The Football Association of Wales coined the hashtag #TogetherStronger at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and at times that has been a necessity rather than just a throwaway marketing phrase. Everyone involved has needed each other, from fans to players to manager.

Yet now this wild ride in France is over, it is time to look to the future and to make sure that the massed ranks of red—the “Red Wall,” as the Welsh players called them—that were visible in Bordeaux, Lens, Toulouse, Paris, Lille and Lyon this summer become regular sights at future tournaments.

With a new world ranking of 11th expected to be confirmed next week, as reported by James Whaling of the Mirror, there won’t be a Welsh fan in France or elsewhere who won’t be casting a glance at the schedule for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers right now.

Austria, Serbia, the Republic of Ireland, Moldova and Georgia represent the barriers to qualification for the finals in Russia, with what was once seen as a somewhat tricky group now looking a lot simpler following the summer Wales have had.

They’ll start off with a home match against Moldova in Cardiff on 5 September, and that will almost be treated as a glorious homecoming for a nation who now need to ride the crest of this wave.

Generations of Welsh football fans had long since given up on seeing their team qualify for a major tournament, and those who’d suggested that they could make it to the semi-finals of this one would have been laughed out of pubs and living rooms up and down the country.

But they did it, thrillingly and unexpectedly, and with a squad that was the seventh youngest out of the 24 in France, per BBC Sport.

The task now is to make sure that they can do it again and again, ensuring that future generations of Welsh fans can come to regard tournament football as the norm, even if consistent semi-finals would be pushing it a bit.

After years in the footballing wilderness, please don’t take Wales home. They’re enjoying the view from here.

A bettor who backed Wales to win UEFA Euro 2016 at 150-1 ahead of the tournament has already tasted extraordinary success this year, having successfully backed Leicester City's Premier League title win at 5,000-1. 

According to Sky Sports' Tim Clement, the Sky Bet punter was one of the bold gamblers to back the Foxes' unlikely success at the start of last season and won £13,333 when Claudio Ranieri's charges incredibly clinched the English top-flight title.

Having bet on Wales at 150-1—odds that were on offer prior to the Dragons even qualifying for the tournament—the bettor could claim a further £2,084 should Chris Coleman's side overcome Portugal on Wednesday and beat either France or Germany on Sunday.

Per Clement, Sky Bet's Sandro Di Michele said: 

It was by pure chance that one of our trading team stumbled upon this remarkable punter, who has only had a few small accumulators other than a few outrageous outright bets.

We're fearing another significant payout if Wales triumph in France, but we can only say hats off to this customer if they've predicted two of the greatest sporting upsets.

The customer also bet on KAA Gent to win the UEFA Champions League last season at odds of 1,000-1, and though the Belgian side were knocked out in the round of 16, it did mark the first time they'd progressed from the group stage.

They have also bet on Liverpool to win the Premier League title next season at 9-1—which, while seemingly quite unlikely given the competition the Reds will face, is hardly beyond the realms of possibility after Leicester's triumph.

Should Wales emerge victorious in the European Championship, 2016 will be known as the year of the underdog in football after the Foxes' success and Iceland's unlikely progression to the quarter-finals.

Overcoming the experience and quality that Portugal, Germany or France boast will be a significant challenge, but in this year of all years, they shouldn't be counted out.

AMAZING SOLO GOAL! Hal Robson-Kanu puts #WAL up 2-1 over #BEL #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/KbiuPWBTXu

— HuffPost Sports (@HuffPostSports) July 1, 2016

Hal Robson-Kanu helped Wales to a shock Euro 2016 quarter-final win over Belgium on Friday when he put the underdogs ahead after 55 minutes.

The scores were level at 1-1 when Aaron Ramsey's cross found Robson-Kanu in the box. The former Reading striker then beat three Belgium defenders with a perfectly executed Cruyff turn and buried a finish past Thibaut Courtois.

Sam Vokes then added a late third to book Wales a place in their first-ever major tournament semi-final.

[Twitter]

Two teams participating in their first UEFA Euro tournament will get an opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals when they square off Saturday in Paris, as Group B winner Wales takes on Group C third-place finisher Northern Ireland.

Wales took part in the qualifying round of the 1976 Euro tourney but did not make it to the championships and enters this round-of-16 matchup as the clear betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Match Odds: Wales +104, Northern Ireland +394, Draw +206 (Matchup Report)

Wales may not have been able to defeat England in Group B play, but the team’s impressive performances in wins over Slovakia and Russia proved to be enough to total more points.

The Welsh dominated the Russians 3-0 in their group finale to put pressure on the English to beat the Slovakians. Instead, England and Slovakia settled for a 0-0 draw, making Wales the Group B winner.

Now the Welsh will look to knock out another member of the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland, who may just be happy to be here after notching only one win in Group C. Northern Ireland is listed back at +20000 on the updated Euro 2016 odds; Wales sits at +2500.

The Green and White Army were the last team to qualify for the round of 16 among third-place teams based on goal difference, edging out Turkey and Albania, who also earned just three points.

Fortunately for Northern Ireland, its two losses were decided by one goal apiece as Poland and Germany both picked up 1-0 wins. A 2-0 victory against Ukraine got the team into the round of 16, although it will be difficult to repeat that result here versus Wales.

The Welsh are a more experienced squad and should have some additional confidence coming off their group win. Even scoring a goal is a feat Northern Ireland will find tough to accomplish, so watch for Wales to limit shots and turn in another stellar defensive performance like they did against Russia in an effort to post back-to-back shutouts.

Offensively, the Welsh will also have an advantage, scoring three times as many goals in group play (six) than Northern Ireland (two). To be fair, Northern Ireland’s competition was arguably better in Group C than Wales’ in Group B, and holding Poland and Germany to one goal each could be considered a minor victory.

However, in the end Wales will be too much for Northern Ireland and ultimately move on to the quarters.

Wales vs. Northern Ireland Prediction: 2-1 Wales

All betting lines data courtesy of Odds Shark. Check out the latest Euro 2016 news.

In the final minute of Wales’ 2-1 loss to England on Thursday afternoon, Neil Taylor launched a high cross in to the penalty area, and there was Gareth Bale rising to meet the ball with a header in an effort to rescue an unlikely point. 

But of course, despite being directly in front of goal and making a good connection, Bale put his header wide of the post, and Wales were defeated.

The narrative around Bale is that he has performed well at Euro 2016 and lived up to his billing, but is that really the case?

Should Wales not expect more from their only world-class player in France?

Of course to question Bale is to question a Welsh deity, and even a smidgen of criticism is dismissed as nonsense, but it is hard to argue we have seen the best of him yet.

Yes, he has scored two of Wales’ three goals at the tournament, and both trademark free-kicks, but let us be clear, both should have been saved. 

The goals were embarrassments for the goalkeepers, rather than personal triumphs for Bale.

In Wales' opening game, Bale struck his free-kick well, and into the centre of the goal, but for some reason it still evaded the Slovakian goalkeeper Matus Kozacik to give Chris Coleman’s side the lead.

Once again in the game against England, Bale hit a powerful free-kick, but Joe Hart should never have been beaten from such a distance, around 35 yards, and yet he dived too late and had to watch the ball squeeze inside the post.

A relieved Hart acknowledged after the game (via the Daily Mirror) that he had been England’s “villain” for allowing Bale to score the goal.

This is not to diminish Bale, you get a shot on target, you deserve any goal that may follow, but these set-piece goals should not obscure the fact Bale still has so much more to give at this tournament.

Euro 2016 offers Bale a unique platform to elbow himself in between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and be recognised as one of the world’s best players.

At Real Madrid, Bale will always be in Ronaldo’s shadow, with his goals and achievements forever a mere sideshow to whatever the Portuguese does.

The last time I was at the Bernabeu in April 2015, Bale scored the game's opening goal, but Ronaldo quickly trumped that by scoring five goals in a game for the first time in his career in a 9-1 win over Granada, and after each goal you could sense Bale’s increasing lack of interest in celebrating with him.  

But with Wales, Bale has so much more freedom; he is the man they turn to, the man that everything revolves around, and this is his team to drive forward.

In the opening game against Slovakia, Wales were inspired by Bale’s presence, but it was nothing more than a solid start to Euro 2016 for him.

Bale was marginally better against England, but however much he huffed and puffed, he could still not create or score a goal from open play himself.

The Welsh sat back and defended deep and hoped they would be able to release Bale on the counter-attack, but that moment never arrived.

As a forward threat, Bale was largely anonymous, and Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill were able to dominate him.

Bale’s contribution to this game will be remembered more for his ill-judged comments in the build-up about how Wales have more pride and passion than the English.

Two games played, and possibly only one more remaining, there is still a strong sense something more is to come from Bale—something special, a moment where he enshrines his greatness on the international stage.

Bale now has what could be one more chance to show his true self in France when Wales face Russia in Toulouse on Monday evening.

A point might be enough to take Wales through to the knock-out stages, while a win would confirm it.

The Russians have been distinctly unimpressive at Euro 2016 and appear the perfect wounded opponents for Bale to assert himself on.

The Bale of the Welsh qualifying campaign, and the Bale often seen in La Liga dressed all in white has yet to make an appearance at Euro 2016. 

So far he has been merely good, but this is a player who can be great.

It might have been an ugly, scuffed shot that came off a shin, but it was also arguably the most beautiful moment in Welsh football history.

In the 81st minute, Hal Robson-Kanu snatched at a chance, from a piece of bad control from Aaron Ramsey, but he got just enough on the ball to give Wales a 2-1 lead. 

They would hold on to it to secure their first-ever win at a European Championship, and their first at a major championships for 58 years since beating Hungary 2-1 at the 1958 World Cup finals.

Three hours later England drew their own opening game to leave Wales looking down on them, Russia and Slovakia from the top of Group B.

These are special days for Wales. The next five days, and quite likely beyond that, will see them camped out in the Promised Land.

It has taken 58 years, but at the moment, it seems it has been more than worth the wait.

Wales did not simply collect three points in Bordeaux; they comfortably won with a scintillating display of attacking football that will have their fans starting to believe.

Gareth Bale gave Wales the lead with a trademark free-kick, but when they allowed the Slovaks back in to the game with an equaliser in the second half, they didn’t meekly retreat and seek to protect a point; no, instead they charged forward to try to regain all three, which is an approach that will serve them well in tournament football.

Wales were always on the front foot. They played to win because this was the game they needed to win above all others.

The fixture-planners had been kind to the Welsh, giving them the weaker Slovaks to start, followed by England and Russia. 

Wales have momentum now, but this victory also takes the pressure off them ahead of their game with England in Lens on Thursday afternoon, because they now know a win is not essential.

With four third-placed teams qualifying for the next round, this win makes it highly likely Wales will progress, and they know the addition of just one more point could confirm it.

Wales’s qualifying campaign was driven by the form of Gareth Bale, scorer of seven of their 11 goals, and the organisation of their defence. Here in France, these were again the twin pillars on which the Welsh performance was built.

Bale was in inspired form, constantly pushing Wales on; he wanted to be the man that made things happen all around him. 

Inevitably it was his strike that gave Wales the lead in the first half, but he is one of 11 and can’t do it all.

Wales were solid, but not dull, organised, but never stifled, and they were able to attack with verve and fluidity because their defence continued to offer such a firm foundation.

During qualifying they only conceded four goals, and though they were breached once in Bordeaux, they largely quelled Slovakia.

The Wales manager Chris Coleman is a smart and underrated coach, enjoying this elevated platform to prove himself, and he devised plans to keep Wales on the attack in both halves.

In the first half he had his side, especially from the full-back positions, spraying long diagonal balls to open up the pitch, and use as much space as possible.

But in the second half when Slovakia closed them down on the flanks, they instead pushed through the middle, from where they scored the winner through the directness of Ramsey and Joe Ledley.

The winning goalscorer Robson-Kanu, and Ledley were both brave and attacking second-half substitutions by Coleman.

The selection of Jonny Williams to play in tandem up front with Bale was also another triumph for Coleman.

Despite being on the periphery at Crystal Palace, and cast out on loan at MK Dons and Nottingham Forest last season, Williams delivered a performance full of energy and intelligent movement and passing.

The criticism of Wales is they lack strength in depth, but here was Coleman shuffling his squad to great effect.

In the days leading up to Wales’ opening game Coleman had invoked the spirit of Denmark 1992 and Greece 2004, both small and unfashionable football nations who became European champions, and he tentatively compared his Wales side to them.

Even after banking three points so impressively against Slovakia, this is still dangerously premature talk, but Wales could certainly extend their stay in France for longer than expected, and England have been warned.

Chris Coleman only ever played with a back three once as a club manager, the final game of the 2005-06 season, when his Fulham side beat Middlesbrough 1-0.

Yet as manager of Wales, after struggling to a 2-1 win away in Andorra in their opening Euro qualifier, he has played with three at the back in any game in which there was any serious defending to be done—that is, not in the home games against Cyprus or Andorra. It is a clever system, one that seems perfectly designed to get the best out of the players available, but it is also one that brings risks.

Coleman’s reputation as a coach is mixed. Incidents such as the one when he missed training while at Real Sociedad after attending a student night—claiming to have had problems with his washing machine—or forgetting his passport when heading to Macedonia became notorious. How could somebody guilty of such errors of judgement or basic lapses be trusted in charge of a national side? But he deserves great credit for the team he has built.

At the heart if it, of course, is Gareth Bale. Of Wales’ 11 goals in qualifying, he scored seven and set up two, making him by some distance the most influential player—in terms of goals scored—of any country in qualifying. Bale also had the second-most attempts on target (24) and the most attempts off target (21) of any player in qualifying.

Helpfully, Bale seems to relish playing for Wales, which hasn’t always been true of the better Welsh players in the past. From Coleman’s point of view, that meant creating a system around him, making sure Bale gets on the ball as much as possible while having freedom to search for room on the pitch. That’s all the more important because he is at his best when he has space to move into and can use his prodigious acceleration.

That means playing Bale centrally and absolving him, as far as possible, of defensive responsibility. In turn, that means having no more than one player in front of him. Let eight defend and Bale roam free. In the absence of a high-class goalscoring striker, the centre-forward’s role then becomes less about finishing chances himself than about creating space for Bale to move into.

That’s why Hal Robson-Kanu, typically a winger at Reading, has been so effective. He has the personality to play what is a largely thankless role, to endure the sneers of those who point out he scored a single goal in qualifying, and he is also used to operating in wide areas.

Coleman could have played with that front two with two banks of four behind—although the danger then from an attacking point of view might have been Robson-Kanu and one of the wide midfielders getting in each other’s way. But in a sense, Wales’ relative lack of options forced his hand.

Wales’ best five players are, without too much dispute, Bale, central defender Ashley Williams and central midfielders Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Joe Allen. Coleman cannot afford to leave out any regular Premier League performer, so picking all three of them meant a central-midfield three. Assuming a basic symmetry to the formation, that can only be achieved with a back three and wing-backs.

Coleman has also benefited form the fact the three midfielders have such complementary qualities. Arsenal at times used Ramsey from deep this season, but he still contributed five goals, four assists and 2.2 shots per game with his forward bursts, according to WhoScored.com. It’s his job to get forward to support Bale when required, something he did successfully enough to bring two goals in qualifying.

Ledley, meanwhile, is a scuttler. He made 0.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game for Crystal Palace last season, darting about, filling in gaps and harassing opponents.

Allen, infamously dubbed “the Welsh Xavi” by Brendan Rodgers when he brought him from Swansea to Liverpool, may not quite have the former Barcelona player’s neat passing ability, but he did complete 84.1 per cent of passes in the Premier League last season. As such, he offers Wales a measure of control; it’s not all about defending deep and getting the ball forward quickly to Bale.

Add in Chris Gunter and Ben Davies, or Jazz Richards and Neil Taylor, full-backs who are comfortable getting forward, and the mix is complete. This is a team structure that accommodates all of Wales’ best players in positions that may fairly be deemed natural to them. The problem, though, is what happens to a bespoke system when injury strikes.

Robson-Kanu has had an Achilles injury, Allen had a knee problem and Ledley is just coming back from a broken leg. All three have returned to training, and it seems as though Robson-Kanu and Allen should be fit to start against Slovakia on Saturday. Ledley may have a reduced role, per Chris Wathan of Wales Online.

That’s problematic, not only because all three are among Wales’ best players but because when a system has been designed for a specific group, finding like-for-like replacements is almost impossible.

Wales stuttered through the end of qualifying—perhaps an understandable tightening up as the goal of a first major finals in 58 years came within reach—but more concerning is their form in friendlies, which have this year yielded a draw against Northern Ireland and defeats to Ukraine and Sweden. It’s true key players were missing from all three games, but that suggests just how reliant Wales are on their core.

If they can get a near-full-strength team on the pitch and Bale fires, they are clearly dangerous, but there is a lack of depth to the squad that could undermine them.

Opponents, meanwhile, know if they can stop Bale—or even can make him play with his back to goal—then Wales’ attacking firepower is significantly reduced. With Russia struggling with midfield injuries, the group is open. Wales could take advantage, but they, too, are vulnerable.

Proud to be on the front of PES Euro 2016 game. Can't wait for the tourney to get under way, COME ON WALES #PESEuros pic.twitter.com/sYypYnToma

— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) March 9, 2016

Wales star Gareth Bale took to Twitter on Wednesday to confirm he will be starring on the cover of Konami's upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer Euro 2016 video game.

The game is due for release in April ahead of the start of the tournament in June, and it will feature officially licensed players from all 24 teams.

"Proud to be on the front of PES Euro 2016 game. Can't wait for the tourney to get under way, COME ON WALES," Bale wrote on Twitter. 

Led by Chris Coleman, the Dragons will compete in Group B alongside England, Russia and Slovakia, as they look to make an impact in their first major tournament in 58 years.

[Twitter, h/t the Sport Bible]