' What the Cyprus manager thinks of Wales & Gareth Bale '
Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:04 pm
Cyprus coach Charalampos Christodoulou insists his players are not fixating on Gareth Bale as they aim to pull off a Euro 2016 qualifying upset in Cardiff.
Monday 13th Oct 2014
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=149207
Real Madrid star Bale, with 10 goals in his last 12 international appearances, will be the man Wales look to as they seek to retain top spot in Group B at the Cardiff City Stadium on Monday night.
But Christodoulou says he has devised a plan to counter the threat of the entire Wales side and not just the world's most expensive player.
"Bale is a great player, of course, and we have to be very careful with him because he can win a game by himself," Christodoulou said at his pre-match press conference.
"But we are playing the whole of the Wales team and this is our plan - to think about the Wales team not only Bale.
"We have to face a very strong and experienced Wales team with top-class players who play for big clubs in Europe.
"All of our opponents are favourites against us. Wales is not a big name in European football but they are a very good side."
Cyprus bring uncomfortable memories for Wales as they have beaten them twice in the last decade on Cypriot soil, once in a friendly and once in European Championship qualifying.
But Cyprus had not won for two years and failed to score in 17 months when they stunned Bosnia-Herzegovina in September, winning 2-1 away to throw the race for qualification places in the pool wide open.
However, that result appeared to be something of a false dawn when they lost their second group fixture last Friday - 2-1 at home to Israel.
"We are trying to make a new team and all the players are giving their utmost," Christodoulou said.
"But the Israel defeat showed me something because the players showed their disappointment at that result.
"In our group, Belgium is a very strong team and should be first place in the group.
"The rest of the teams will fight for second and third place and the results so far show all the teams have the right to dream for second and third place in the group."
Christodoulou might not necessarily employ the counter-attacking tactics which served Cyprus so well in Bosnia, saying it depends on how the opponent approaches the game.
But he expects a fast and physical match and hopes his players will not be disadvantaged too much by having to make the long journey to Wales while the hosts enjoy their second home game in three days.
"We should not allow our opponents to play the way they want, but it will be a British-style game," he said.
"We have a short period between matches but we have experienced players who will be ready enough mentally for the game.
"Most of them have played in European competition and have the experience required to play two games in a short period.
"Taking the difficult programme we have had, one point will not be bad for our team, but we will give 100 per cent on the pitch to try and get more."
Monday 13th Oct 2014
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=149207
Real Madrid star Bale, with 10 goals in his last 12 international appearances, will be the man Wales look to as they seek to retain top spot in Group B at the Cardiff City Stadium on Monday night.
But Christodoulou says he has devised a plan to counter the threat of the entire Wales side and not just the world's most expensive player.
"Bale is a great player, of course, and we have to be very careful with him because he can win a game by himself," Christodoulou said at his pre-match press conference.
"But we are playing the whole of the Wales team and this is our plan - to think about the Wales team not only Bale.
"We have to face a very strong and experienced Wales team with top-class players who play for big clubs in Europe.
"All of our opponents are favourites against us. Wales is not a big name in European football but they are a very good side."
Cyprus bring uncomfortable memories for Wales as they have beaten them twice in the last decade on Cypriot soil, once in a friendly and once in European Championship qualifying.
But Cyprus had not won for two years and failed to score in 17 months when they stunned Bosnia-Herzegovina in September, winning 2-1 away to throw the race for qualification places in the pool wide open.
However, that result appeared to be something of a false dawn when they lost their second group fixture last Friday - 2-1 at home to Israel.
"We are trying to make a new team and all the players are giving their utmost," Christodoulou said.
"But the Israel defeat showed me something because the players showed their disappointment at that result.
"In our group, Belgium is a very strong team and should be first place in the group.
"The rest of the teams will fight for second and third place and the results so far show all the teams have the right to dream for second and third place in the group."
Christodoulou might not necessarily employ the counter-attacking tactics which served Cyprus so well in Bosnia, saying it depends on how the opponent approaches the game.
But he expects a fast and physical match and hopes his players will not be disadvantaged too much by having to make the long journey to Wales while the hosts enjoy their second home game in three days.
"We should not allow our opponents to play the way they want, but it will be a British-style game," he said.
"We have a short period between matches but we have experienced players who will be ready enough mentally for the game.
"Most of them have played in European competition and have the experience required to play two games in a short period.
"Taking the difficult programme we have had, one point will not be bad for our team, but we will give 100 per cent on the pitch to try and get more."