Can Wales be the new Portugal?

Article by Harry Trand

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The upcoming European Championship will be held in France, with the competition being expanded to twenty four countries, and according to the Fifa world rankings at the time of writing, Wales are the twenty-fourth best team in Europe, one above giants Armenia, yet have never qualified for a European Championship. So does that mean the nation should EXPECT to qualify?

On the fourth of July last month, Wales were routinely beaten 2-0 by the Dutch, the Welsh team were led by Charlton striker Simon Church, a player who has scored three league goals in thirty eight games for Charlton. Church hardly saw the ball in the first half, yet represented the best goal threat for Wales. Not playing that day was the most expensive football player in history, Gareth Bale, who was out with an injury. Bale had sustained the leg muscle injury before the 2014 Champions League final, but chose to play in that match. Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in the final with Bale on the score sheet in a 4-1 extra time victory, and he played all one hundred and twenty minutes with the supposed injury, yet could not even sit on the bench against the Netherlands ten days later. Bale perhaps prioritises the Champions League final above an international friendly and rightly so, but this brings up another question, do the big Welsh names take the national team seriously? In the last eighteen Wales matches, from 2012 onwards, Bale has only played eleven of them. A small return for Wales star man. Ryan Giggs had an illustrious career with Manchester United, but name me one notable moment of Giggs playing in a Wales shirt.

Bale could be to Wales what Cristiano Ronaldo is to Portugal, a player who carries the team. Ronaldo is a level above Bale, and perhaps the best player in the world. Portugal’s 2014 world cup squad included eight players from the Portugese Primeira League, the fifth best league in the world according to UEFA, comparatively the Welsh Premier League is ranked forty eight out of the fifty-three European league’s in UEFA’s coefficient rankings, the league is both semi professional and professional, but not one Welsh international has been playing in the Welsh premier league in the last decade at least. The best Welsh teams play in the English football league system, yet with so many foreign players coming through, especially in the premier league, it has been well documented that many English players in the premier league struggle to break through to the first team.

To conclude, Wales could build a team around Bale, but that is not their only option. Aaron Ramsay was one of the best players in the premier league last season and Joe Allen’s precise passing (and not so precise finishing) helped Liverpool nearly win the premier league. Adam Matthews plays in defence at Celtic alongside two World Cup participants and Ashley Williams is a consistent performer for Swansea City. Wales have some top level players, which could just help Simon Church to bag a few more goals in a red shirt. So yes, we should expect to qualify.

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