As Chris Coleman reflected on how times have changed for Wales after Euro 2016, the manager gave an insight into just how much his own life has been turned on its head as he recalled last month’s Uefa national team coaches’ conference in Paris and laughed about the fact he no longer needs to wear a name badge.
“It was nice that one or two of them recognised me this time. The last time I think they thought I was the bell boy or something – they did not know who I was,” said Coleman, who was smiling but also making a serious point about the way he is perceived these days.
“Sir Alex Ferguson was there this time, Michael O’Neill, Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan. It was great. It was a full day, a really interesting event to listen to everybody and it was nice that they had four managers on the top table. There was Didier Deschamps, myself, Lars Lagerback and Vicente del Bosque – you know you are in good company – and it felt great to be on the stage with them speaking about our experiences.
“I was there two years previously, listening to the four managers on the stage who had been to the semi-finals of the World Cup. You cannot help but wonder if you could be there one day, and it came true.”
As many as 55 national associations were represented at the conference, where Coleman talked about the story behind Wales’s progress to the semi-finals in France. Ferguson’s role was tied in with the Euro 2016 technical report released the same day and put together by a team of experts led by the former Manchester United manager. “Tales of the unexpected” is one of the headings within the document and it neatly captures how Wales were viewed in the summer.
Yet Coleman needs no telling that no one sees Wales in that light now. They are ranked 10th in the world, above Spain, England and Italy, and their reputation precedes them on the back of those four victories in France in the summer. Wales, in short, are there to be shot at during this World Cup qualifying campaign. “Teams will see it as a chance to send out a message,” Coleman said.
The motivation for Thursday’s opponents will be greater than most. While Wales exceeded all expectations at Euro 2016 and returned home as heroes, Austria were a huge disappointment. After arriving in France as one of the dark horses following a superb qualifying campaign in which they collected 28 out of a possible 30 points, Marcel Koller’s side finished bottom of their group in France. It felt as though Austria’s players never coped with the hype.
“Tournament football is unlike anything else, the campaign can be great but a finals is a different challenge,” Coleman said. “You have three games where it is shit or bust really. People say you have got to win your first game and you don’t get a second bite. When everything is on the line you sink or swim and our boys answered the questions asked of them – we can handle those high-pressure situations.
“This will be another one where we will have to have the answers again. Austria will know about us. If they get three points off us, they will have to go above and beyond if we are at our best.
“It’s a great test for us. We must not go there with any fear. We have proved we can play against good teams in their back yard and do well. This is no different. They are a fancied team expected to be among those challenging to qualify but I’m looking forward to it. It is going to be exciting, two good teams going at it.”
While it is still early days when it comes to the road to Russia, Wales’s visit to Vienna feels like a big game for both nations, especially as only the group winners are guaranteed a place at the World Cup finals. Wales take on Georgia in Cardiff three days later and it is easy to imagine that Coleman, who will once again be without the injured Aaron Ramsey, would settle for four points from the two fixtures.
Much as Coleman expects opponents to change their tactics to try to nullify the threat his team pose on the counterattack, the Wales manager believes the biggest obstacle to progress in this campaign will be their own psychological approach.
“It is not that the teams we are up against will be any better; it is the thinking and mentality we have,” he said. “We have to up our game, that goes for the players, for me and for my staff. With success comes complacency if you let it happen. It is human nature, there is that urge to think about how well you have done. This is the test for us, to try and push on.”
