UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
Wales returned to the quadriennial FIFA event after a gap of 64 years and are looking at an early exit from the competition. Rob Page’s men find themselves at the bottom of Group B rankings.
They need to win by a margin of four goals against the Three Lions in their final fixture to continue their adventures in Qatar. For a team that has just scored once in their two World Cup appearances, it is a tough assignment.
They have struggled to deceive for the duration of their ground time and lack cohesiveness. Nevertheless, The Dragons still have an outside chance to book their place in the Round of 16 and Joe Allen believes it is a plausible eventuality.
The experienced midfielder they have the quality and motivation to claim the unlikely four-goal goal victory against England. The sceptic inside of him did admit that it is a prickly situation that they find themselves in.
“It’s not impossible, no,” the fit-again Allen shared. “It’s a tough task, it’s always uncomfortable when it’s not in your hands and you’re relying on certain things to unfold but while there’s still a chance it’s really simple for us.
“We’re fully motivated, fully incentivised into throwing absolutely everything into getting the win. Then, who knows? Hopefully, there’s a chance we can still get us out of this group.”
Worldclass England can be beaten
Ben Davies always does press conferences in English.
He starts speaking Welsh when English reporters walk in.
— Welsh (@WalesAwayDuty) November 27, 2022
The 2-0 defeat to Iran following their 1-1 draw against USMNT has come in close succession. Wales have their backs against the wall and only one solution in front of them.
Tottenham star Ben Davies praised England for their quality and echoed Allen’s sentiment about them. He stated their awareness of issues hampering Gareth Southgate’s men, issues that they can capitalise on
“After every loss, it’s very tough to take,” said Tottenham defender Ben Davies. “We knew the manner we lost in, the last kick of the game, it was a tough way to react and bounce back. We’ve had that disappointment and we’ve got no choice but to move on and give everything we can.
“They’re a world-class side, it’s going to be a very tough game but we have to prep as well as we can, look for areas of weakness they have and try and capitalise on that. We’re under no illusions it’s not going to be anything other than very difficult.
“Everybody knows that we’ve got quality in there and we really do believe we can win the game. We know it will be hard and we know we’ll have to be at our best to do it but we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
Wales’s World Cup debut a bittersweet moment
A grim day for Wales, but one huge positive was this man being back out on the pitch.
Two World Cup games so far have fully exposed just how important Joe Allen still is to Wales' midfield. pic.twitter.com/GdJsxWgYBA
— Ian Mitchelmore (@IanMitchelmore) November 25, 2022
Prior to their meeting with Iran, Gareth Bale had called Wales’ adventures in Qatar 2022 as historical moments of national pride. The Dragon’s off-colour showings have left a sour taste in the fans.
Allen came off late against Team Melli but was helpless as Wales conceded two injury-time goals. The former Liverpool and Southampton midfielder admitted they were sub-par in their two games.
Given their poor showings, not one area could be highlighted as needing more focus than others. They can make improvements to their showings to overcome their disappointments on the grandest footballing stage.
“We’re not where we hoped to be two games into the group stage. In terms of what went wrong, I don’t think there’s any one thing you could put your finger on.
“We’ve gone through everywhere we can improve and so far it’s not been a fair reflection of what we’re capable of. That’s been a real disappointment because we can offer so much more and we will certainly will have to do that in the next game.”
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!