' LATEST NEWS ' WALES v NORTHERN IRELAND ' MATCH THREAD

WALES v NORTHERN IRELAND
Euro 2016 Last 16
Saturday 25th June 5pm
Parc Des Princes, Paris

' Updated daily '

A capacity of 48,000

Over 20,000 odd thousand Welsh have tickets

wales v nireland.PNG

Match preview

Wales go into this Last 16 match as favourites against a Northern Ireland team who, like their opponents, continue to defy the odds. While Wales finished as group winners with two wins, Northern Ireland only picked up three points but crucially managed to secure a place in the Second Round as one of the four best-placed 3rd teams.

As we leave the group stages, the winner will progress to play Hungary or Belgium in the quarter finals. Extra time and penalties will take place if needed.

Likely line-ups

Wales

01 Hennessey
05 Chester
06 Williams
04 Davies
02 Gunter
07 Allen
16 Ledley
03 Taylor
11 Bale
18 Vokes
10 Ramsey

Northern Ireland

01 McGovern
18 Hughes
04 McAuley
20 Cathcart
05 Evans
19 Ward
13 Evans
16 Norwood
08 Davis
14 Dallas
11 Washington

Northern Ireland

nireland.PNG

Best result: First-time participants
Coach: Michael O'Neil
Leading scorers: all-time – David Healy (36) ; current – Kyle Lafferty (17)
Most appearances: all-time - Pat Jennings (119); current - Aaron Hughes (102)
Association formed: 1880
Nickname: Green and White Army
Where they play: Windsor Park

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1921 the jurisdiction of the IFA was reduced to Northern Ireland following the secession of clubs in the soon-to-be Irish Free State, although its team remained the national team for all of Ireland until 1950, and used the name Ireland until the 1970s. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) organises the separate Republic of Ireland national football team.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has always had a representative side that plays in major professional tournaments – whether alongside the rest of Ireland pre-1922 or as its own entity – though not in the Olympic Games, as the IOC has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.

Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. At UEFA Euro 2016, the team is making its first appearance at the European tournament.

Previous meetings

Wales have had the better of the countries' 95 encounters: W44 D24 L27. The Welsh are also unbeaten in the last eight of those matches (W4 D4), a run dating back to a 1-0 friendly win for Northern Ireland in 1980. The teams' most recent tussle was a 1-1 friendly draw in Cardiff on 24 March, a late penalty from Simon Church cancelling out Craig Cathcart's opener.

Their only previous EURO meetings came in qualifying for the 1968 finals, where they drew 0-0 at Belfast's Windsor Park before Wales edged the return fixture 2-0 in Cardiff.

Form

Russia 0-3 Wales
England 2-1 Wales
Wales 2-1 Slovakia

Northern Ireland 0-1 Germany
Ukraine 0-2 Northern Ireland
Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland

Match odds

Wales 10/11
Northern Ireland 7/2
Draw 9/5

Qualification odds

Wales 4/9
Northern Ireland 7/4

Where can I watch it?

The match will be live on S4C and BBC One. BBC's coverage begins at 4.10pm.

Guess the score

Post your predictions below

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Premier League referee, Martin Atkinson, will be in charge of the game.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)

Assistant referees: Michael Mullarkey (ENG), Stephen Child (ENG)

Additional assistant referees: Michael Oliver (ENG), Craig Pawson (ENG)

Fourth official: Felix Brych (GER)

Reserve official: Mark Borsch (GER)

Good to see a UK ref -

2 nil Wales.

Neil Taylor says he is willing to take a penalty and exorcise his Olympic demons should Wales' Euro 2016 showdown against Northern Ireland be settled by spot-kicks.

The Wales defender was part of the Great Britain side which lost to South Korea in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals at London 2012.

But, having scored his first goal for six years in Wales' 3-0 victory over Russia on Monday night, Taylor says he has no qualms over stepping up at the Parc des Princes to take a spot-kick if needed.

"I've only taken them on the training ground, or on FIFA,'' Taylor said about the prospect of penalties in Paris on Saturday.

"But I think everybody has to put their hands up for a penalty.

"You have to be willing to take one in a tournament, you have to do it for your team.

"We've obviously got more specialists in the team than me.
"But if it comes to it, it might take 10 penalties before it's decided.''

Rewind four years and Taylor was in Stuart Pearce's GB side which were going for Olympic gold on home soil.
They had fought their way through the group stages but, after Taylor's Wales teammate Aaron Ramsey had scored and missed a penalty in normal time in the Cardiff quarter-final, South Korea prevailed in a spot-kick contest.

"It was cruel. I remember South Korea taking the best penalties I've ever seen in any tournament,'' said Taylor.

"I actually spoke to Ki [Sung-yueng] when he moved to Swansea, and he said that South Korea were playing for penalties because they knew how good they were at them.

"We were good at them as well. But you can practice as much as you want, when it comes to the actual game the keeper might go the right way or he might not.

"And that determines whether it's a good penalty or not.

"I've obviously had that experience, the disappointment of it, and I hope it doesn't happen again.''
Taylor's Euro 2016 experience in France has been a far different story.

When he smashed home Wales' second goal in Toulouse, it was the Swansea full-back's first goal since he scored for former club Wrexham against Grays in the Conference in April 2010.

But his focus is very much on what is in front of this Wales team, and not behind them.

"The game [against Northern Ireland] comes after probably the right amount of time,'' said Taylor.

"If it was a day earlier it would probably be coming a bit soon, after three games in 10 days, and any longer you couldn't wait for it.

"The Russia game played out exactly how we wanted it to after the disappointment of losing to England.

"We wanted to perform first and we felt that if we did that the result would come.
"Thankfully both went hand in hand and now we have to build on that.''

Chris Coleman was today asked in the Press Conferance about ' Aaron Ramsey ' and ' Gareth Bale '

Friday 22nd June 2016


Chris Coleman on Gareth Bale

Chris Coleman: “He seems to come up every press conference. He’s one of the biggest stars world football, interests in Wales as proud Welsh people.

“The way he represents his jersey on top of skill. Huge passion. Everyone outside of Wales will admire/respect Gareth, but I look at every one of our players and think ‘wow, we’ve got a real good team’.

“We have tremendous spirit. Bale is one of best in the world. That connection is there for everybody to see.”




' Aaron Ramsey '

Chris Coleman: “Arsenal play differently to us, Arsene asks for different things from his players than I do for mine. In possession last game we created chance after chance, a lot of that was down to Aaron.

“Every area of his game has been good this tournament. When you have a player with Rambo’s imagination he’ll stand out, do something spectactular.

“But with energy levels too he’s even better.”

I went for Russia to beat us 2-0, so based on that prediction I will go for N Ireland to beat us 4-0 with Bale getting a hat trick and Ramsey the other two.

' TICKETS '

Charging around £1,000
Reports suggest touts have been cashing in on the national team’s most important football match for decades by charging around £1,000 – more than 15 times the face value – on some websites.

On ebay one seller was asking for a buy it now price of £1,050 on Friday for three category two tickets, which could have been bought directly from Uefa for around £85 each - and less before the pound’s plunge.

Wales fans have also been warned about increased security measures ahead of the contest.

The round of 16 clash will be subject to a stricter search process at the turnstiles as well as random bag checks inside the stadium.

Welsh fans who haven’t followed the team out to France will be able to cheer on the team from Cardiff’s fanzone .

Cardiff Council has confirmed the gates to the 6,000-capacity fanzone in Cooper’s Field, Bute Park, will be open at 3pm on Saturday and will close at 8pm.

Travel costs go "through the roof"




Sky sports reporter and Wales fan Bryn Law tweeted that the Welsh and Northern Irish fans heading for Paris had seen travel prices go “though the roof”.


Gareth Bale and Manchester United FC star Anthony Martial try their hand at acting in new advert
A spokesperson for Flybe said prices rise closer to the travelling time with demand rising and seat availability dwindling.

Among those heading out for the game is lifelong Wales fan David Scourfield.

The 32-year-old software developer, from Cardiff, was not put off by travel prices or the fact that prices within Paris would rise after the pound plunged by 5.3% against the Euro following the Leave vote in Thursday’s referendum.

Mr Scourfield, who travelled to France for Wales' victory in their opening game of Euro 2016 over Slovakia, was travelling on a coach and was due to return straight after the game.

On Friday afternoon he did not have a ticket, but was queuing on the Uefa website after around 500 category two and three tickets were put up for sale.

He said: “I’ve been told there’ll be lots of genuine fans out there with a few spares so I’m hoping to bump into some who will sell at face value.

David Scourfield with a group of Celtic fans before seeing Wales' opening victory of Euro 2016 over Slovakia
“But it depends how desperate I get and how close to kick-off it gets.”

Wales fans head out to Paris in hope of witnessing historic win

24 JUN 2016

BY DARREN DEVINE

Thousands are heading out to the French capital in the hope of seeing Chris Coleman's men book their place in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals



Wales v Northern Ireland preview - the Welsh exodus and have many fans been priced out of travelling.Wales and Northern Ireland fans hope to see their teams continue to light up Euro 2016

Thousands of Wales fans joined an exodus to Paris on Friday in the hope of seeing Chris Coleman’s men reach a historic Euro 2016 quarter-final.

The supporters will swell the ranks of those who headed out earlier and saw Wales top their group to set up a last 16 clash with Northern Ireland at the Parc des Princes.

Cardiff Airport said they were expecting around 1,000 fans to fly out of the Welsh capital headed for Paris.

Flybe, which runs flights between Cardiff and Paris, said their 3.30pm flight out of the Welsh capital on Friday was almost sold out by late morning with just five seats left.

But a spokesperson for the operator said Welsh fans are also using their flights from Birmingham, Southampton and Manchester to reach Paris.

A spokesperson for Cardiff Airport said fans have also been connecting from the Welsh capital via cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dublin.

PAWales fans show their supportWales fans show their support
Air France runs flights between Bristol and Paris. Its 5.25pm flight to the French capital connecting via Amsterdam had three seats available by early afternoon on Friday.

Returning on Sunday this was priced at £903.76 on the firm’s website.

On Friday morning Channel Tunnel operator Eurostar had tickets left - priced at between £144.50 and £245 for journeys between London and Paris.

Wales boss Chris Coleman on Brexit: 'We're still in Euros and that's the only thing we care about as a team'


Friday 24th June 2016

BY PAUL ABBANDONATO



Wales boss has his final pre-match media briefing ahead of Euro showdown with Northern Ireland and side-steps questions on EU referendum



Wales boss Chris Coleman side-stepped questions about Brexit and insisted he and the Welsh players were focusing only on their huge Euro 2016 showdown with Northern Ireland.

Coleman was quizzed three times about the result of the EU referendum as he sat down to meet the world's media in Paris 24 hours ahead of the last 16 Battle of Britain showdown.

Asked first what the team have said about the vote back home to leave, Coleman replied: "Honestly, I think talking about being in or out of Europe... we’re still in it and that’s the only thing we care about as a team.

"We'll talk about other issues when we get home. We’re watching the football on TV and focusing on our game."


Coleman, who has managed in Spain and Greece, was next asked about young British managers not having the opportunity to coach abroad because of restrictions following the EU vote.

"Even before the vote result today, I thought it was disappointing more coaches didn't do it before," he said. "We know what it’s like to be a manager back home, it's never comfortable but it's a shame more haven’t taken the leap of going abroad.

"It’s petrifying, the leap, but not half worth it because of the experience you gain. What will happen in the future? It’ll be more difficult I suspect."

Brexit came up for a third time, this time from a French journalist.

Coleman replied: "We’re not sure who voted for what, which part for the country voted in or out. But whatever is happening on the political side of the fence can wait, for us it’s about football and the Northern Ireland game."


Coleman's skipper Ashley Williams did bring a smile to proceedings when he briefly addressed Brexit, saying: "We’re certainly trying to remain in the Euros for as much time as we can.

"We’re missing home, of course, but we’re not in any rush to get back just yet."

As for the huge showdown with Northern Ireland, Coleman said: "We can take confidence from the last game with Russia when we were outstanding, but that was yesterday so to speak. This is tomorrow.

"We will treat it like every other game, total focus on opposition, but mainly upon ourselves, what we’re capable of.



"This is tournament football. Teams have earned respect and tomorrow will be about who can handle the spotlight best, the tension and pressure. We’ve been screaming for that spotlight for years, so we're just looking forward to it.

"We fought hard against England, but when we had the ball we didn’t get near our abilities, got caught up in emotion of a derby game.

"We have to enjoy the Northern Ireland game more, take the emotion out of it. Get too emotional and your game plan goes out of the window.

"Northern Ireland are very strong, physical, well organised, dangerous from set pieces, have a great team spirit. We we concentrate on ourselves, not getting sucked into Ireland’s strengths or their way of playing.

"It will be loud, very passionate, a really good game to be involved with."

Very positive about our chances if we play to our strength's tomorrow.

Anything close to playing as well as in that Russia game and we should get a good result.

Come on the Boy's - Wales Forever !!!

4.1 Wales!

Will the rest of Europe be supporting NI tommorow?

We may have had our plaudits last week but we voted out of Europe and NI wanted to remain.

Wales 2 - 1 Northern Ireland

Bales due a hat trick!

' FAO OF ALL THE WELSH FANS TODAY '
Link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=174380

Play like Monday and there will be no problems

Let's not get drawn in to their game or we could be in trouble

What the bookies are saying

The bookies have Wales odds-on favourites for this one on the back of their impressive qualification at the top of Group B.

Northern Ireland’s third-placed finish sees them as the outsiders – but shorter odds than the winning Leave price for much of Thursday. Odds: 10/11 Wales; 7/2 N Ireland; 19/10 Draw. Bets:

There’s every possibility that Wales could get drawn into an old-fashioned Celtic clash and end the 90 minutes level at 19/10. But, with the price on a Welsh win so short, the 4/1 on victory with both teams to score in Ladbrokes’ result rush is worth a look.

Atmosphere is buzzing around the stadium, plenty of fans drinking, singing and having a good time.

Get in there

Not the best game of football but only one thing matters, the result !!

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The Dream Continues

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