Chris Coleman has urged Szymon Marciniak, the Polish referee, to adopt a strong approach during Wales’ Euro 2016 qualifier against Cyprus on Thursday, mindful of the way that Gareth Bale came in for some rough treatment at the hands of the same opponents in a fractious encounter last October.
Wales won that match 2-1 and Coleman has not forgotten the way Bale seemed to be targeted by Cyprus at times. Five Cyprus players were booked and Marios Nikolaou was guilty of a particularly poor challenge on Bale in the opening five minutes that went unpunished. It was Wales, however, who finished the game with 10 men after Andy King was given a straight red card early in the second half.
Coleman felt that the officials had been far too lenient with Cyprus that evening and that Bale was not afforded enough protection by the German referee. While stressing he is not expecting any favours for the return fixture, Coleman wants Marciniak to clamp down on any overly aggressive challenges on a night when Wales hope to pick up the three points that would give them the chance to seal qualification for next summer’s finals with a win over Israel at home on Sunday.
“It’s notoriously tough when we come here,” said the Wales manager, who is set to start with James Collins in defence after James Chester failed to recover from a hamstring injury. “You look at Cyprus, it’s not like at this stage they’ve got nothing to play for. For them it is a must three points if they’re going to do anything in this campaign. So whilst there is pressure on us because we’re top and know what is at stake, there’s pressure on them also.
“I think a lot has been said about the last game when we had a man sent off. They should have had a man sent off. That’s football. Whatever they’ve got in store for us we’ll be expecting. We know it’s going to be a very tough game. They’re exciting with the ball, they can make chances and score goals, and they can be aggressive. So we’ve prepared ourselves for that and we need to be prepared for it. But they’ll need to be prepared for us as well because, if we’re at our best, then we’re a game for anyone.
“It won’t be easy. I’m not saying our boys are angels either. If it gets to that, our boys won’t be found wanting, I promise you. But it’s a game of football, maybe a heated one, there’s a lot on it, so we just want to make sure there’s a strong referee, a good referee. We’re not asking for any favours, we just want fairness.”
Wales are set to go into the Cyprus game higher than England in the Fifa rankings for the first time. The updated rankings will be announced on Thursday and, although Wales remain ninth, England will fall to 10th. It is some turnaround for Wales, who were as low as 117th in the world in August 2011.
“To look at the rankings is a confidence boost. We’ve been low and had that rubbed in our face many times,” Coleman said. “Now we’re doing well the players deserve that, it’s over two years not just two or three games. We can be proud. But at the same time the rankings are not going to get us to France. I wish it would. If worst comes to the worst and we don’t go to France but we’re in the top 10 in the rankings, I don’t see that as a success. We need to do something no one has done. So success is getting to France.”
