Wales and Northern Ireland will clash this evening in Parc des Princes, Paris in a historic match as they aim to qualify for the quarter-final of the 2016 European Championship. It will be the first time two home nations will face each other in the knockout phase of a major tournament. It is expected that thousands of Wales and Northern Ireland will be very noisy today in Paris as they watch history been made and as they support for their respective teams.
Wales finished on top of England to take Group B, while Northern Ireland qualified from Group C on the one of the best third-placed teams rule. Interestingly, there is another home nations dimension to the encounter. The match will be refereed by England’s Martin Atkinson.
Wales carry into the game a historical advantage, having won 15 of their 34 previous meetings since 1953, when Fifa decided that Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland must compete under separate names.
Northern Ireland have not been able to win Wales in eight attempts since their 1-0 Home Championship victory in May 1980.
The two sides played in a pre-Euro 2016 friendly just three months ago, with Wales lucky to grab a late 1-1 draw in Cardiff. However, Wales big stars Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey were missing in action. Both are starts today.
Northern Ireland showed against world champions, Germany how stubborn they can be and how difficult it is to beat them when they drop deep – just like in the friendly in Cardiff. And they intend to do the same again against Wales today, as the bid their chance for a quarter-final berth.
Wales manager Chris Coleman talking about the clash said: “This is tournament football. Both teams find themselves in a position where they’ve earned respect, they’ve earned the tension.
“That pressure and tension is what we’ve been screaming for for years – there’s no complaints from us. We’re just looking forward to the game.”
Wales forward Gareth Bale hopes that the tremendous support from their fans will see them through.
“The support from our fans is incredible – we call it the Red Wall. You know like Borussia Dortmund you see the Yellow Wall, we call it the Red Wall.
“To see the stadium it’s red, it’s like a home game. We see on the big screen fans crying and it means so much, not to just us as players but to us as a nation.”
Northern Ireland manager, Michael Oneil hopes his team will continue its fairy tale ride. He said that his boys will ensure that they are the ones who will qualify from this game.
“We don’t want this to end. The players want more.
“The prize is massive for both teams. We are playing for a place in the quarter-finals and we have to make sure it is us going through.”
cpcnews.org 