MX23RW : Thursday, December 26 02:24:34| >> :600:101084:101084:
[monks data]
Portugal national football team
European Championship | Semi-Finals
Jul 6, 2016 at 8pm UK
 
Wales national football team

2-0

Ronaldo (50'), Nani (53')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Chris Coleman: 'Gareth Bale fully focused on semi-final'

Wales boss Chris Coleman claims that Gareth Bale will be as focused as ever when facing Portugal, despite being under the spotlight as he battles with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Chris Coleman has insisted that firing Wales into the final of Euro 2016 will be enough motivation for Gareth Bale, rather than focusing on getting one over on clubmate Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Real Madrid superstars face off on Wednesday night when the Dragons take on Portugal at the semi-final stage of the competition in Lyon.

Wales boss Coleman is well aware that much of the pre-match focus will centre on the two Galacticos, but he insists that neither he nor Bale will approach the game any differently following a memorable campaign thus far.

"They are two of the best players on the planet. They know each other very well," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "I don't suppose there will be any love lost on the evening, between both teams not just Cristiano and Gareth. We know what is at stake. Any friendship will have to wait until after the game.

"I don't think Bale will look at this and think he will have to impress anyone just because of who the opposition is. We have to remember where he has been, the games he has played, the stages he has performed on. Bale will see this as another big test. Whoever is on the pitch they are in our way, we have to find a route past them.

"It's not like I need to pull my defenders to one side and say, 'They have a guy up front called Cristiano Ronaldo and he can do this that and the other.' I could drill my players for a month on him and he could do something that is unstoppable. But we have one of those in our team. It balances out. We will concentrate on what has got us here in the first place, that is our identity, and we are strong on that."

Wales will be without midfielder Aaron Ramsey and defender Ben Davies for the last-four showdown, while defensive midfield linchpin William Carvalho is absent for Portugal.

ID:276031: cacheID:276031:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3269:
Written by
Daniel Lewis
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chris Coleman leads a Wales training session on March 22, 2016
Read Next:
Coleman: 'Wales can deal with loss of key duo'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!