Like their hosts tonight, the Welsh make much of their team spirit and ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Ireland, manager Chris Coleman insists that his players' collective dedication to the cause is at least as big a factor in the team's recent success as the presence of a superstar and a some strong supporting cast members.
After such an outstanding European championships a couple of the latter have been missing of late which might go some way towards explaining why, for all Bale’s brilliance and the passion of the team’s lesser players, the Welsh arrive for this game well off there they might have been expected to be in Group D.
"We were without Aaron for three or four games," says Coleman, "we missed Joe Allen for Austria and the second half of the Georgia game and there is no getting away that they are key players for us so it is nice to have them back for a tough one.
The manager has, in fact, the entire starting 11 from the memorable quarter-final defeat of Belgium in Lille last summer available to him for the first time since then and it would be no great surprise if he opted to reunite the line-up.
He insists, however, the difficulties encountered since have been about more than just the absence of the odd player and maintains, with some passion of his own, that the team will come good again, whether it is tonight or a little further down the line.
A scalp
“In some of the games we’ve played we’ve had some very good form,” he says, “but I think we’ve lost focus at important times maybe. For all that, it’s different for us this time around, we can hardly go under the radar now, we’re deemed a bit of a scalp.
“But people look at us now in these first four games and say we’ve won one and drawn three. We’ve lost one campaign game in 16, that’s the truth of the matter. What happens in this campaign, whatever happens tomorrow....these players are a great age, their attitude and application is the best I’ve ever seen; they’ll go on and on and achieve long after I’m gone because they’re at a great age and they are very much together.
“So when everybody looks to put so much pressure on in relation to this game tomorrow, that’s up to them. I’m not doing that to our players, no chance. I have full belief in them to perform because I trust them.
“Why do I trust them? Because of what they have done; not just in the tournament, way before that. It’s been going on for some time, they’ve been performing. Nine times out of 10 they perform.
So I’m not worried about tomorrow night. I’m respectful of who we are up against; a good team and it will be tough, but I’m not worried that if we don’t get three points. I won’t be thinking: ‘it’s all over’ – far from it.
“There are a lot of points still there to play for and these boys have a lot of good games in them.”
