Chris Coleman piles the pressure on Belgium but insists they are not unbeatable ahead of Euro 2016 quarter final
Tuesday 28th June 2016
BY CHRIS WATHAN
Coleman is insists the challenge for his 'underdogs' is to simply reach the same level of performance that has got them this far
Chris Coleman has told his Wales Euro 2016 heroes they can seize their moment after turning up the pressure on Belgium boss Marc Wilmots ahead of Friday's huge quarter-final clash.
And the national boss has insisted Wales will continue to concentrate on their own strengths rather than start worrying about the talents of Eden Hazard and co. in a bid to repeat past glories over the Belgians.
Coleman has admitted Gareth Bale's winner in the qualifying clash between the two teams a year ago was the moment his men stepped up their game on the international stage and found the belief they could be a match for the very best in the game.
It is something they will have to repeat in Lille on Friday after Belgium booked their place in the last-eight with a 4-0 romp over Hungary on Sunday night.
The last-16 performance inspired by Hazard has seen Belgium reinforce belief from some they are on course to the final, but Coleman reckons that's now an expectation on Wilmots to deliver.
Many fans set to miss out on Wales v Belgium as online touts try and charge up to £75,000 for a ticket
And he said: “I think if you look at the team Belgium have they have got to produce – and not to get out of the group stages, but to get a semi-final or final. I am not saying anything that Marc doesn’t know because that it is what is being said.
“But they are not unbeatable – and we know from our experience that on our day, at our best, we can cause Belgium problems.
“They won convincingly against Hungary and they looked good, but they don’t always play like they can and they make mistakes like anyone else. It is up to us to make sure that side comes out.
“They won 4-0 the other night but at 1-0 they had moments where they weren't comfortable – and in football you have to seize those moments. You see someone when they are down, you have got to try and kick them and not feel sorry for a team that are under pressure because they wont feel sorry for you. When you got your opportunities, you have got to capitalise on them.”
And with Wales just one match away from a semi-final – or 180 minutes away from the final – there is very much a feeling that this is Wales' chance to do more than just match the hopes of a nation but go beyond them.
It is not something Coleman is being caught up in, nor will allow his team to, but he does know that there is nothing like the here and now.
With Belgium heavily fancied, there is a feeling that Wales are in a win-win situation having edged past Northern Ireland to reach this stage, and Coleman added: “We would have felt we had missed a trick if we had lost. This one, we are the underdogs and it is on Belgium and the pressure is on them.
“The pressure for us has been more about performing to certain levels. Now the question is can we bring it again and perform like we can perform? Because that is what we are going to need.
“Everyone will think it is alright because we have done well to get this far, but when you are in the quarter-final of the tournament knowing if we can get it right there are great possibilities it is different.
“We re focused on maximising performances because we know what can happen with that. I understand people saying we have done well, but I feel there is more football and more performances in this team.”
But Coleman stressed they will only come if they keep the focus on themselves rather than what is at stake, saying: “We have a vision and an identity and it is about focusing just on that.
"We know what we are good at and it is why we are here. If we get our gameplan and players right that is what matters, it is a one-off game, it will be on the night and can we bring our game and show our identity, if we do that the result is more in our control.
“This is a game in isolation when we have to forget what has happened, forget how we have played in the past, forget how they have played, this is a game right in front of us. Whether it is Belgium or whoever, it has to be about us.
"Of course you have got to concentrate on the strengths of Belgium, it would be stupid not to but in the main our work has got to be on ourselves. We have another team in front of us, standing in our way, to where we need to get to.
"We have to work out how we bring our best game to get through because this is not something we want to give up easily.
“We have taken a long time to get here, we are going to keep doing what we have been and we want to stay here.”
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.