Paris, June 24 (IANS) Wales will be facing Northern Ireland on Saturday in the European football championship pre-quarterfinals as both teams look for a historical achievement to ensure the presence of a British team in the last eight.
The two UK teams will be heading to the Parc des Princes stadium here, where another competition will take place between the fans, who have been acknowledged since the beginning of the tournament as the loudest, reports Efe.
Wales is optimistic at the moment after qualifying for the last 16 as leader of its group and ahead of England who came second, while Welsh Gareth Bale was the only player in the group stage who scored at least a goal in all three games.
This is an all-British match, including the referee Englishman Martin Atkinson.
Currently, Wales is enjoying its happiest moments after reaching the European championship for the first time in its history, qualifying for the last 16.
Northern Ireland qualified third in Group C after two losses against Poland and Germany and a single win against Ukraine.
It seems that Bale wants to go as far as he can, and as he has said before, Wales went to France to win the tournament, not just to play three games and go home.
In order to motivate his players, coach Chris Coleman showed his players a video of the 1958 generation, when Wales reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Sweden, an achievement that the current team would want to match.
Despite Wales and Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom, they both have different styles of play.
Northern Ireland's style depends on solid defence and avoiding individual play, unlike Wales.
--IANS
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