Euro 2016 News, Results, Tickets: England v Wales
Euro 2016 news & results: Wales v England
In Euro 2016 Group B matches to date, Wales earned 3 points, England 1 point, Russia 1 point, and Slovakia 0 points after the first round. Wales go into their “derby” with England at Lens, France with a 2 point cushion that may secure a spot in the Euro 2016 Round of 16. Meanwhile Russia may be disqualified by UEFA from Euro 2016 if their fans cause further trouble, due to the violence already caused by Russians at Marseille Stadium. The Russians have been fined 150,000 euros (£119,000) following violence inside the stadium at Russia’s Group B game against England in Marseille on Saturday. FA chief executive Martin Glenn has asked supporters "to act in a positive and respectful way" in the future.
Fourty-three Russian fans are being deported from France as a result of their violent behavior at Euro 2016. The supporters were arrested and will be charged, released or expelled from the country. Russia play Group B rivals Slovakia at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Wednesday. England plays Wales on Thursday at Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens nearby. French authorities plan to increase security before the games with 4,000 added police and security officials on duty, and the sale of alcohol will be restricted at matches in both Lille and Lens.
Ahead of Thursday’s clash between England and Wales, Adam Lallana stated that England will not be intimidated by Wales' superstar striker Gareth Bale when they meet in Lens for their Group B match. Lallana was asked if the aura around Bale would affect Roy Hodgson’s England side. "I know that won't affect me or our team,” said Lallana. "We've got plenty of players with that aura and special talent. I don't believe that will come into play at all."
Welshman Gareth Bale scored 7 of Wales' 11 goals in qualifying and has scored 20 times in 56 games for his Wales side. After England drew 1-1 in their opening game against Russia, Bale claimed that Chris Coleman’s Wales team had more "passion" than Roy Hodgson's England side. Bale scored a superb 28-yard free-kick to open Wales’ scoring in Euro 2016.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it in too serious a manner, knowing Gareth," said Lallana. "It's part and parcel of the build-up. We know that we will do our talking on the pitch like I believe they will want to do. The match can't come soon enough for me. Maybe they want to spice things up before a big game but we're all used to that. It is about not getting lured into it." Lallana said England possess the attacking threat that strikes fear into the Welsh side in the form of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, and Marcus Rashford. Harry Kane, was the Premier League's top scorer in 2015-16 with 25 goals for Tottenham Hotspur.
"It's definitely one of the best England squads I've been involved in, so if someone is having a bad day, or there are injuries or suspensions, we've got options in abundance to come in and keep the standards high," added Lallana. Chris Coleman’s Wales side are two points ahead of England after the first round of games. Wales opened with victory against Slovakia, while Roy Hodgson's England side conceded a last-minute equalizer against Russia in Marseille to end up with a 1-1 draw putting some extra pressure on them in the run-up to their “derby” clash with Wales.
"Yes that's the case but we thrive on pressure week in and week out," continued Lallana. "It brings out the best in us. That's what we have to deal with. It's a big football match, not just because it is Wales versus England but because of the state of the group. It would be great for us to get the win with how the group lies at the minute." Popular England captain Wayne Rooney is not worried about the criticism he receives as he prepares to lead England into battle against rivals Wales. Hodgson assigned Rooney a midfield role instead of a striker role in England’s opening Euro 2016 fixture against Russia.
“Everyone who watches football is entitled to his opinion. I know the qualities I have and I don't have to sit here and defend myself,” Rooney remarked in response to criticism by Russian players and coaches. “I've played this game for a lot of years and I'm aware that my game has changed slightly over the years. In my opinion, it's changed for the better. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but the opinions that matter to me are those of my coaches and team-mates,” added Rooney. Asked what position he prefers to play, Rooney replied: “My favorite position is being on the pitch, to be honest.”
“Firstly I never said I've changed my position. I've changed my game slightly,” continued Rooney. “I've seen players and played with players who have changed what they did and become better players. That's natural. I've played in midfield for the last few months at United, and it's a natural way of football. It happens. I feel with my football intelligence, I can play there and further my career there as well.” To date Rooney has earned 111 caps and 52 goals in international football. Regarded as an expert in big tournaments, Rooney’s new manager at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho, called him “England’s best player for over a decade.”
Wales fans sang a stirring rendition of Land of my Fathers to inspire the tired Wales side as they battled to the end against Slovakia in their opening game of the Euro 2016 tournament. “No other country would think of doing things like that to lift the team,” Bale said. “We were under the cosh a bit towards the end but our fans pulled us through.”
“That was incredible,” Ramsey said referring to the Wales singing the Wales anthem to encourage their team to finish well. “It was really spine-tingling hearing the anthem sung like that with so much passion. We had to pinch ourselves to stop the tears coming down. It was fantastic. They have been absolutely superb throughout the campaign, they have definitely helped us in certain games and they managed to do that again.” Wales face England in Lens on Thursday in a mouth-watering clash of UK rivals, but all the pressure will be on Roy Hodgson’s team that likes to “big themselves up before they’ve done anything”, according to Bale.
To go through to the Euro 2016 Last 16, England have only a small margin for error after conceding an injury-time equalizer against Russia in Marseille. Wales have one foot in the door already. Hal Robson-Kanu’s left-foot winner came soon after the anthem and will no doubt go down as one of the most important goals in the history of Welsh football. The goal was assisted by Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ledley. Ledley came off the bench for Wales only 5 weeks after breaking his leg.
“I am very proud of myself and the medical staff who have looked after me,” said Ledley. “I have to give them a lot of credit because without them I don’t think I would be here today. I have worked hard and it is remarkable what I have achieved. I also have to thank the manager for giving me the opportunity to be here.”
“We found it difficult in the second half, I’m not going to lie,” Ledley added. England manager Roy Hodgson gave his side Monday off to recover from the draw in Marseille after losing a 1-0 lead against Russia in stoppage time. In the run-up to England v Wales, Hodgson told his men to rise above the “disrespectful” comments from their Euro 2016 opponents after showing his disdain for Gareth Bale’s claim that Wales will play with more national fervor when the two rival sides clash in Lens on Thursday. Bale’s claim that the Welsh players had “a lot more passion and pride about us than them” went down badly in the English camp.
“The other day it was Igor Akinfeev saying we were the worst seeded team in the group, and now it’s Gareth Bale,” Hodgson complained. “They can have those opinions. I don’t have any doubts personally about our patriotism and our desire and that’s the most important thing. If he believes that’s the case, he’s welcome to that opinion. “I’m afraid the fact is that receiving disrespectful comments is part and parcel of being a footballer and a football coach. I’m pretty sure there will be lots of players in opposing teams who have opinions about us, too. But we know who we are, we know what we are”, added Hodson.
“We don’t have any doubts about ourselves in that respect and that’s the most important thing. It’s a tight dressing room. It’s a passionate dressing room and I would recommend anybody who does have doubts about our players to watch our game and then come to me and tell me where they have seen that lack of passion and lack of patriotism, because I certainly didn’t see it.” England captain, Wayne Rooney, also remarked on Bale’s remarks. “That’s what he feels but I’m sure all us English players will feel differently,” Rooney said. “He’s obviously a proud Welshman, which he should be. It’s where he’s from but we’re from England and we’re very proud Englishmen. We are proud, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
If Wales defeat England on Thursday after their 2-1 victory against Slovakia they will likely emerge as Group B winners with a game to spare. Key to a Wales victory against England is Gareth Bale. Bale has earned 2 Champions League titles and 58 goals since joining Madrid at cost of £85 million.
“I really don’t look at it as pressure,” said the Welshman. “I just literally go out there and play. If I happen to score I score. If I don’t I hope someone else scores. It is something to enjoy. It’s going out with your friends for a kick-about and you try and win. Obviously I was lucky enough to score the goals in qualifying but it could have easily been someone else. If we give 100 per cent and have no regrets, we can't do more."
Bale laughed about being drawn with England in Group B. “I had a chuckle – I am not going to lie,” he said. “I knew it was going to come. It is an amazing game; probably the stand-out game in the group stages. There is no pressure on us. They big themselves up before they’ve done anything so we’re going to go there and we believe we can beat them. They believe they can beat us. It is like any derby – you never want to lose to the enemy. I think we’ve got a lot more passion and pride about us than them. We’ll definitely show that.”
Real Madrid striker Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive footballer, was asked about his decision to represent Wales not England in Euro 2016. Bale has already won the Champions League but considers the Euros as the most important games of his career “I wouldn’t care if I never qualified - I would never play for England,” said Bale about competing for “the enemy”.
“We’ve got a lot more passion and pride” than England,” continued Bale. “Look at the national anthem. Everyone sings, the whole stadium. It's the way we are brought up. We feel more pride and passion than anyone else. It's difficult to explain but we feel that. It definitely means more because of what we have been through,” said Bale. “It's not just been difficult in football but for other things as well. It's made us come together, stronger. We've had to go deep to bring our emotions out, bring it onto the field. After every game we are all in huddles. We've been through so much and, to be here now, I think we appreciate it more than other countries. There were difficult times. We were all young. I don't think we ever stopped believing but we had to get more experience and grow together. The difference from when I was 18 or 19 to what I am now; we're stronger and mentally tougher. There's probably been more downs than ups but this will be one of the highest points since the team of John Charles,” Bale added. “We wanted to qualify for everybody, for the nation and we never want to let our manager down. He prepared us better than anywhere I have been before. We know we are a smaller nation and we have to do everything in our power to try and get to the other levels of others.”
When asked if he believes Wales can win Euro 2016, Bales replied, "We hope to make a statement."
Euro 2016 Group Stage Results
France 2-1 Romania
Albania 0-1 Switzerland
Wales 2-1 Slovakia
England 1-1 Russia
Turkey 0-1 Croatia
Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland
Germany 2-0 Ukraine
Spain 1-0 Czech Republic
Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Belgium 0-2 Italy
Austria 0-3 Hungary
Portugal 1-1 Iceland
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