' MATCH THREAD ' " WALES v ISRAEL " ' MATCH THREAD '

WALES v ISRAEL
European Championship Qualifiers
Sunday 6th September 2015 5.00pm
Cardiff City Stadium


Wales XI to play Israel: Hennessey, Gunter, Williams, Davies, Richards, Taylor, King, Edwards, Ramsey, Bale, Robson Kanu.

Subs - Chester, Fon Williams, MacDonald, Church, Vokes, Vaughan, Cotterill, Collins, Lawrence, Ward, Williams, Henley.


Wales manager Chris Coleman has no new injury concerns

THE LIKELY LINE-UPS
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Williams(Capt), Davies; Richards, Vaughan, Edwards, Taylor; Ramsey; Robson-Kanu, Bale.

Israel: Marciano; Dasa, Ben Haim I(Capt), Tibi, Ben Harush; Biton, Natcho, Kayal; Zahavi, Dabour, Ben Haim II.

Sold out 33,000



' UPDATED DAILY '


Coleman confirmed that midfielder Joe Ledley will miss out with a hamstring problem, but Nottingham Forest's David Vaughan has been brought into the squad to compensate for the Crystal Palace man's absence

" GREAT NEWS "

No injuries from the Cyprus game, Wales will be able to play the same team v Israel

Joe Ledley has been ruled out of Wales' Euro 2016 qualifier with Israel on Sunday because of a hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old midfielder missed Thursday's Group B victory over Cyprus in Nicosia after picking up the injury on the eve of the match.

Nottingham Forest's David Vaughan has been called up to the squad as cover after being unavailable to travel to Cyprus for family reasons.

West Brom defender James Chester is expected to be passed fit.
A slight hamstring strain had forced the 26-year-old to sit out the match in Cyprus, but he will train with the rest of the squad at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
"Whether he starts or not is another question but hopefully if he comes through training then he'll definitely be in the squad," said Wales manager Chris Coleman.


If Wales beat Israel in their next Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday, they will not only make next summer's finals but they will also move up to at least fourth in the FIFA Rankings.


Latest News

A win at home against Israel will guarantee qualification for Wales, the first time in 57 years they have reached a major tournament.

Coleman will be hoping Ledley recovers from a hamstring injury that kept him out of Thursday's game with Cyprus.

Preview

Wales brought Israel back to earth in no uncertain fashion when the sides met for the first time in Group B, with Israel still in the hunt for their first victory against the hosts.

Wales ended Israel's winning start to UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying and will hope to maintain their push for top spot in Group B when the sides reconvene in Cardiff on 6 September.


Previous Meetings

• Gareth Bale set up Aaron Ramsey's opener then scored twice himself as Wales won 3-0 in Israel in the teams' first Group B meeting. Eytan Tibi was sent off with the hosts already 2-0 down.

• Israel are yet to taste victory against Wales in five matches (D2 L3), though prior to this year the two countries had not locked horns since a 3-3 draw in Ramat Gan on 8 February 1989.

• Their most notable encounters came in a play-off for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, with Wales winning both legs 2-0 to earn a place in Sweden – their only World Cup finals campaign to date.


Trivia and links

• Israel defender Tal Ben Haim (I) plays alongside Welsh international Simon Church at Charlton Athletic FC.

• Wales forward George Williams turns 20 the day after the Israel fixture.

• In the only meeting between the nations' clubs in UEFA competition, Maccabi Haifa FC beat Cwmbran Town FC 3-0 home and away in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup qualifying round.


Possible Lineups

Wales

01 Hennessey
02 Gunter
06 Williams
18 Davies
04 Richards
08 King
07 Edwards
03 Taylor
11 Bale
10 Ramsey
09 Robson-Kanu

Israel

18 Ofir Martziano
16 Eli Dasa
3 Tal Ben Haim
21 Eitan Tibi
22 Avi Reikan
4 Nir Biton
7 Eran Zahavi
6 Bibras Natkho
9 Moanes Dabour
10 Tomer Hemed
12 Tal Ben Haim

Form - Previous group games

Wales

Thu 3 Sep: Cyprus 0-1 Wales
Fri 12 Jun: Wales 1-0 Belgium
Sat 28 Mar: Israel 0-3 Wales
Sun 16 Nov: Belgium 0-0 Wales
Mon 13 Oct: Wales 2-1 Cyprus
Fri 10 Oct: Wales 0-0 Bos-Herce
Tue 9 Sep: Andorra 1-2 Wales

Israel

Thu 3 Sep: Israel 4-0 Andorra
Fri 12 Jun: Bos-Herce 3-1 Israel
Tue 31 Mar: Israel 0-1 Belgium
Sat 28 Mar: Israel 0-3 Wales
Sun 16 Nov: Israel 3-0 Bos-Herce
Mon 13 Oct: Andorra 1-4 Israel
Fri 10 Oct: Cyprus 1-2 Israel

Previous Highlights



Table as it stands

table.png

Match Odds

Wales 28/29
Draw 13/5
Israel 18/5

Guess the score

Post your predictions below

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Wales 2 nil. France here we come.

4.0!

Wales 2 Israel 1

1-0 Bale

2 nil to us ,Bale gets them both

Wales 2:0 win Ashleigh Williams and of course bale

2-0 Bale and Ramsey

Wales 3-0 Israel (Bale x2 & Ramsey)

Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Promised Land Awaits Wales in Israel Clash

It was 1958 when Wales last reached a major tournament, ironically beating Israel in a play-off to qualify for that year's World Cup in Sweden, where a side bereft of injured Juventus striker John Charles fell to Pele's Brazil in the quarter-finals.


Saturday, 05 September, 2015

Wales are on the brink of history when they face Israel.

Wales can end 57 years of obscurity and heartbreak on Sunday when they play Israel in Cardiff needing a win to qualify for next year's European Championship in France.

It was 1958 when Wales last reached a major tournament, ironically beating Israel in a play-off to qualify for that year's World Cup in Sweden, where a side bereft of injured Juventus striker John Charles fell to Pele's Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Wales have endured one-sided defeats, agonising near-misses and personal tragedy in the intervening years, but Gareth Bale's thunderous headed winner against Cyprus on Thursday has set the scene for a night of catharsis at the Cardiff City Stadium.
"For the Welsh supporters waiting for us to get back home, get excited," said manager Chris Coleman after the 1-0 win in Nicosia.
"My message for them is to get carried away. Enjoy this. They've waited a long time.
"But we can't get carried away. I can't, the players can't, my staff can't, and we won't."
A small, craggy nation of some three million people that juts into the Irish Sea, Wales is renowned more for rugby union than football and fans of the round-ball game have seen enough disappointment to know not to count any chickens before kick-off on Sunday.
A disputed handball by Scotland's Joe Jordan denied them a place at the 1978 World Cup, while they were a crossbar's width away from reaching the 1994 tournament, Paul Bodin's penalty cannoning back off the woodwork in a 2-1 loss to Romania at Cardiff Arms Park in November 1993.
Their last brush with qualification came in 2003, when they reached the European Championship play-offs under Mark Hughes, only to lose over two legs to Russia.
Ryan Giggs was left to rue a glaring miss in the second leg at the Millennium Stadium, as he joined a list of Welsh greats including Charles, Hughes and Ian Rush never to have played at a major tournament.
Hughes's exit was the catalyst for a slump that saw Wales plunge in the world ranking to a low of 117, only for a youthful side to reverse the trend under the clearsighted management of popular former midfielder Gary Speed.
Speed's death in an apparent suicide in November 2011 left Welsh football in a state of shock and his former team-mate Coleman was not a universally popular choice to replace him.
The gum-chewing, perma-tanned Coleman did little to endear himself to Welsh fans by losing his passport prior to a World Cup qualifier in Macedonia two years ago -- forcing him to miss the pre-match training session -- but he has since engineered a stunning surge that has seen Wales rise to ninth in the FIFA ranking, above England for the first time.
Victory over Israel will lift Wales to the implausible heights of fourth in the world, and they could climb as high as second.
Coleman's masterstroke has been the introduction of a 3-5-1-1 formation that has instilled defensive resilience and allowed Bale licence to roam behind a lone striker.
Wales have scored only nine goals -- fewer than Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus, the teams who trail them in Group B -- but their defence has been breached just twice.
Bale, 26, has scored 12 goals in his last 15 games and his six goals in qualifying include winners against Andorra, Cyprus and a star-studded Belgium team, who lost 1-0 on a muggy, electrifying night in the Welsh capital three months ago.
In the eyes of former Wales midfielder Robbie Savage, the Real Madrid flier is "the greatest ever player to put on the red shirt".
Coleman says that midfielder Joe Ledley is a "huge doubt" to face Israel, but centre-back James Chester could feature after missing the victory over Cyprus with a hamstring injury.

Israel lost 3-0 at home to Wales in March, but remain firmly in contention for a top-two finish -- and with it an automatic qualifying spot -- after overpowering Andorra 4-0 on Thursday.

Israel's Celtic midfielder Nir Bitton told the BBC: "If we want to play in the Euro, we need to deal with these games."

Williams - Let's Get The Job Done


Saturday, 5th Sep 2015

Ashley Williams has called on Wales to get the job done and secure their qualification for France next summer on Sunday when they face Israel in Cardiff.

Wales pushed themselves to the brink of qualification on Thursday night with a 1-0 win over Cyprus in Nicosia and they could now send a capacity Cardiff City Stadium crowd wild on Sunday if they secure a place in a major finals for the first time since 1958.

Gareth Bale's late winner was a brilliant bonus for Wales who looked as if they may secure a hard fought draw but the win was the perfect result and ensured that the qualification party was set up nicely for Sunday.



Such is the professionalism in the Welsh squad they though are not yet dreaming of France next summer. In the week leading up to the game it was all focus on Cyprus and we know where that got us and the same on Sunday is certainly what we want to see and there is every reason to believe that Chris Coleman will get his team to deliver.

Ashley Williams is certainly on that wavelength "We've earned the right to be in this position

"As players it will be not about getting caught up with things, staying focused for the 90 minutes and trying to get the job done.

"I don't think we played as good as we have done," added Williams looking back on Thursday's win

"They played well, but we were trying to win the game and we had a game-plan, which was keep it tight.

"Probably, we would have taken the 0-0, but Gareth scored an amazing goal at the end.

"We knew it would be difficult, especially away, it was very hot and they were bang up for it as we were.

"They pressed a lot and we had to soak up a lot of pressure. It was one of the more difficult games in this campaign."

Gareth Bale and Wales team-mates excluded from iconic Panini Euro 2016 qualifying trading cards


5 SEPTEMBER 2015

BY GARETH ROGERS

One Welsh fan, who has shelled out £80 on 'Road to Euro 2016' collectible cards for his two sons says he can't believe Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have been omitted


Collectors of Road to Euro 2016 trading cards won't find Gareth Bale in their packCollectors of Road to Euro 2016 trading cards won't find Gareth Bale in their pack

As Wales stand of the brink of history, excited children from Cardiff to Caernarfon should be eagerly swapping Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey trading cards in the school yard – but they’re not!

While group rivals Bosnia and Belgium trail in Wales’ wake, their worried young fans are consoling themselves by being part of the Panini ‘Road to 2016’ card collection, while Welsh youngsters miss out.



Those who have already opened pack after pack of the iconic cards in search of their Welsh heroes, will only have found the likes of Asmir Begovic or Jan Vertonghen!

There is an Asmir Begovic card but no Gareth Bale!There is an Asmir Begovic card but no Gareth Bale!
More: How Wales could officially become the second best team in the world!

Angry father-of-two Andrew Poole spent £80 on the Adrenalyn XL cards for his two boys, Jacob, 11, and Ollie, 7, before realising no Wales players were in there and breaking the bad news to his lads.

The passionate Wales fan, from Aberystwyth, said: “I can’t believe they would have Bosnia in there but not Wales.

“My boys are absolutely gutted. Every time we passed WH Smith they wanted to buy a new pack of cards so they could get their hands on a Bale or a Ramsey.

Explanation
“We had bought so many packs and hadn’t found a Welsh player, so I contacted Panini and they confirmed to me that no Welsh players were in the collection.

“In fairness they gave me a refund but my boys couldn’t understand why the most expensive player in the world had been left out of the collection.”

The iconic sticker and trading card company claim ‘permission rights’ are the reason why some of Europe’s top performing teams like Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Denmark are missing.


In short, they have to negotiate a separate licence to issue cards from each association and on this occasion they only did so with 24 of Uefa’s 54 nations, releasing cards of six players from each. While the likes of Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia and Greece made the cut, Wales did not.

A statement from Panini said: “The inclusion of all teams is subject to license.

“Unfortunately permission rights from a few of the qualifying teams had not been obtained by the time this ‘pre-collection’ went to print, which is why they are not included.”

Can Wales be added in?
The Italian-based global brand admitted Wales, or any other country, were unlikely to be added to the collection at this late stage but said a new lot of cards and stickers will be released once the tournament’s 24 competitors are finalised.

Their statement continued: “Once a card collection has been printed and released it is very unlikely that any additions to the collection will be made I’m afraid but please bear in mind that this is only the ‘Road to’ collection and that we will have a sticker and card collection released for the Euro 2016 once we are closer to the time.

“Hopefully these collections will be more complete and include Wales as well as any other team that was not in the Road to collection.

“We apologise for any disappointment caused.”

Wales boss Chris Coleman will accept his team's 'golden generation' tag - Once they've qualified for Euro 2016!


5 SEPTEMBER 2015

BY CHRIS WATHAN

The story of how a group of talented Welsh boys became a team of men ready to realise the hopes and dreams of a nation


Nobody can quite recall who dubbed them the golden generation.

The term attached itself to this clutch of obviously talented youngsters first introduced by Brian Flynn as fast-tracked by the faith of John Toshack.



But Tosh referenced it, the writers lapped it up and the fans wanted to believe it.

From the first class of 2006 in Joe Ledley and Gareth Bale, every season there seemed to be another young talent added to the growing list of players of potential.

Not all of them would make it, some players have disappeared from squads and top-level football, and plenty had doubts against their name. Even – more fool them – Gareth Bale.



Yet the tag weighed heavily, some mocking the moniker as Wales dipped to 117th.

Now is the time
It was perhaps with a nod to it being the time to fulfil the potential that Chris Coleman made clear his frustration with the term.

“They will only be a golden generation when they do something,”

Coleman claimed before the start of his first campaign as manager. It was repeated as he sat shell-shocked as Belgium and Serbia ruthlessly spelt out how far the team still had to go.

They are about to do something; Tosh’s boys are all grown up.



Coleman had smiled at the question, knowing it was almost time to accept that the starlets had done exactly what he had questioned of them.

“We’ll be the golden generation when I’m sitting here with a smile on my face and we’re celebrating because we’ve got enough points that means we can’t be caught and we’re on our way to France,” he said when asked whether it was time the term was now correct.

“Then, yeah, absolutely, we can call them the golden generation. And they will deserve it.”

The other 'golden generation'
Coleman has often said he believed he had played in the side of a golden generation, that of the early 90s where Ian Rush, Neville Southall, Mark Hughes, Dean Saunders, Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed came within 12 yards of the World Cup.

But citing his own demands to do something more than just offer hope, Coleman now accepts this current crop eclipses that much-loved team.

While Bale stands above all, it can be argued that the current team do not possess the individual quality of that of the Yorath years.



What they have though, what has helped drag them through nights such as Nicosia, is a togetherness formed from growing up together. Aaron Ramsey et al have been there in the Under 21s together, become friends over a decade of shared rooms, shared experiences and shared conversations. It runs as deep as the squad strength which is better than most eras and more capable of withstanding withdrawals.

“When you saw us score tonight, and you saw the celebration, that’s been coming for a long time,” said Coleman.

“Especially in this campaign that togetherness has been absolutely fantastic, and that’s what gets you through when maybe you’re not playing so well. You just dig in.

“It was Wayne Hennessey’s 50th cap in Cyprus and in this campaign we’ve had Ashley Williams ( pictured below ), Gareth Bale, Joe Ledley get to 50 caps and that’s happening more and more.”

Strength in depth
Even replacements David Edwards and Andy King, another of that same twenty-something group, have 30 caps.

“That’s a real positive sign,” Coleman continued. “It means the players are always here, and the challenge when I got the job three or four years ago was to be the one to get 100 caps. And a lot of our players have got the chance to do that.”

They have a chance to do more than just that, those who were all awkward smiles and nervous interviews now men knowing their dream they were drafted in to achieve is in sight. Tosh’s stubbornness to persist with promise despite results and his acceptance that someone else would benefit is about to bear fruit, nurtured along the way at the right times by Gary Speed and now Coleman.


“I said along in the first camp in Andorra, to the players privately, I thought this group of players are something special,” he said.

“With that comes a bit of pressure. There’s a lot of quality there and with that comes expectation. We have to handle that.

“But I do believe it’s on the way. Their biggest moment is the one that is yet to arrive. Hopefully it will sooner rather than later.”

The team ten years in the making, the golden generation, are ready to shine.

If Wales beat Israel in their next Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday, they will not only make next summer's finals but they will also move up to at least fourth in the FIFA Rankings.

Joe Ledley has been ruled out of Wales' Euro 2016 qualifier with Israel on Sunday because of a hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old midfielder missed Thursday's Group B victory over Cyprus in Nicosia after picking up the injury on the eve of the match.

Nottingham Forest's David Vaughan has been called up to the squad as cover after being unavailable to travel to Cyprus for family reasons.

West Brom defender James Chester is expected to be passed fit.
A slight hamstring strain had forced the 26-year-old to sit out the match in Cyprus, but he will train with the rest of the squad at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
"Whether he starts or not is another question but hopefully if he comes through training then he'll definitely be in the squad," said Wales manager Chris Coleman.


If Wales beat Israel in their next Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday, they will not only make next summer's finals but they will also move up to at least fourth in the FIFA Rankings.

Message to Wales Supporters

#TogetherStronger

05/09/15

We at Inside Cardiff City hope that everyone enjoys the game tomorrow in the hope that we get the result we need to start booking our flights, ferries and everything else to France.
We ask that everyone gets behind the team so that we as fans, can do our bit to make history with the Welsh National Team. Whether you support Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Newport, Merthyr or anyone else, get behind the boys, get together, be loud and support the boys because remember…Together we are Stronger.

Wales captain Ashley Williams, has attended a press conference at the Cardiff City Stadium before the team trained ahead of tomorrow’s (Sunday, 6 September) European Qualifying Group B match against Israel.

“We’re very proud of what we've achieved already and gone through as a team and as a nation,” Williams told the press.

“We’ve worked hard to be in this position to be somewhere we want to get. Now it’s about staying focused.

“We have 90 minutes to get the job done. We are professional players and we have to stay calm.

“We want to get to the stadium and play the game now. Theres so much talking going on. We know what we need to do to get the job done.

“This is potentially one of the biggest games that we’ll ever play. We’ll be ready.”

Williams also acknowledged the important role that the fans have played during this campaign: “I hope the fans are excited, they’ve been unbelievable right from the start. Talking to the players, its something we wont forget, the atmosphere has been incredible.”

“It will be a big match for me,” Williams adde We’ve worked hard in a short space of time to be ready for this game.

“We will stick to our plan, we have the firepower up front and the power in the back to beat anyone.”

2-0 for me, I think Israel will struggle its 32c in Tel Aviv right now and 16c in Cardiff - Come on Wales!!!

Neither Simon Church or Tal Ben Haim play for Charlton.

Wales manager Coleman calls for cool heads

September 5, 2015


Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Wales manager Chris Coleman has urged his players to keep their focus on Sunday when they face Israel in Cardiff needing victory to qualify for next year's European Championship.

It is 57 years since Wales last qualified for a major tournament, coincidentally beating Israel in a play-off to reach the 1958 World Cup, and the game at Cardiff City Stadium is sure to be an emotionally charged affair.

But with the Group B leaders on a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, Coleman is confident his players will not let the occasion get the better of them.

"We all know what the possibilities are and what it's going to be like," Coleman told his pre-match media conference in the Welsh capital on Saturday.

"There's going to be a fantastic atmosphere, but we mustn't get caught up in it because if you do that you stop thinking about what got you there in the first place.

"We'll stick to the game-plan and I'm not bothered about the performance being remembered for loads of goals and lots of excitement.

"If that's the case and we came out on top, great, but we'll stick to what we've been working on and stay calm and focused."

Coleman confirmed that midfielder Joe Ledley will miss out with a hamstring problem, but Nottingham Forest's David Vaughan has been brought into the squad to compensate for the Crystal Palace man's absence.

West Bromwich Albion centre-back James Chester, meanwhile, hopes to feature after returning to training following a hamstring injury of his own.

Gareth Bale will be central to Wales' chances, having scored six goals in their seven qualifying games, including a bullet header in Thursday's 1-0 win away to Cyprus.

"I was pleased for Gareth on Thursday because it wasn't a night when we were at our best offensively," Coleman said of the Real Madrid forward.

"But Gareth got his reward and he's got more goals in him in this campaign."

Coleman confirmed that midfielder Joe Ledley will miss out with a hamstring problem, but Nottingham Forest's David Vaughan has been brought into the squad to compensate for the Crystal Palace man's absence

TEAM NEWS
Joe Ledley
Wales are without Joe Ledley who has not recovered from the hamstring strain that ruled him out of the win in Cyprus. With Joe Allen also out, Coleman has recalled David Vaughan after he missed Nicosia for family reasons and he could go straight in as a natural sitter at the expense of either Andy King or David Edwards. James Chester returned to training on Saturday and other changes will depend more on recovery and Coleman's desire to freshen the side.

Israel are without four first-choice players who started in Haifa including Red Bull Salzburg striker Omer Damari, Gent defender Rami Gershon and Brugge midfielder Lior Refaelov. The 23-year-old Nir Bitton will start having impressed for Celtic this season.

THE LIKELY LINE-UPS
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Williams(Capt), Davies; Richards, Vaughan, Edwards, Taylor; Ramsey; Robson-Kanu, Bale.

Israel: Marciano; Dasa, Ben Haim I(Capt), Tibi, Ben Harush; Biton, Natcho, Kayal; Zahavi, Dabour, Ben Haim II.

Wales can seal a place in next summer's Euro 2016 finals by defeating Israel in Cardiff this Sunday evening.


Chris Coleman's side are out to create history by becoming the first Welsh squad in over 50 years to reach the finals of a major tournament.

A 1-0 win over Cyprus in Nicosia on Thursday night has put the Dragons within touching distance of next summer's finals in France, and their place will be secured if they can beat Israel at the Cardiff City Stadium - kick-off 5.00pm.

Israel are the only team that can deny Wales a final spot, but they lie five points behind their opponents with just three games remaining.

Rovers duo Adam Henley and Tom Lawrence are both in Coleman's 23-man squad, but after missing out against Cyprus, they'll be hopeful of playing their part in Cardiff.

WALES WALES WALES WALES WALES

Wales manager Chris Coleman has no new injury concerns

For those without tickets, what pubs are you going to?

Wales 1-0 Israel

Gareth Bale will score early on in the second half.

For those without tickets, what pubs are you going to?

None. We've all invited ourselves round to your house to watch it.

Wales 1-0 Israel

Gareth Bale will score early on in the second half.

For those without tickets, what pubs are you going to?

None. We've all invited ourselves round to your house to watch it.

just keep out of my sock draw.

Wales 1-0 Israel

Gareth Bale will score early on in the second half.

For those without tickets, what pubs are you going to?

None. We've all invited ourselves round to your house to watch it.

just keep out of my sock draw.