Thursday 23 March 2017 19:40, UK
Seamus Coleman has challenged the Republic of Ireland to shackle Gareth Bale in the same way they did Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Euro 2016.
Coleman's side take on Wales in Friday's World Cup Qualifiers Group D clash at the Aviva Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm, with much of the pre-match discussions centring around the best way to keep Real Madrid star Bale quiet.
But having seen his team largely mark Sweden talisman Ibrahimovic out of the game as they launched their Euro 2016 finals campaign in France last summer, skipper Coleman is confident they can repeat the trick on Bale.
"We are a team which has played against big players in the past. I remember when we played Sweden in the summer, all the talk was about Zlatan and it's quite similar this time," Coleman said.
"We are fully focused on our job and looking forward to the game. As I said, we were getting asked the same questions in the summer about certain players and you have got another 10 players on the pitch you have got to worry about.
"We know he's a world class player and we are going to have to be careful and get tight to him in certain areas, but we can't just fully focus on Gareth Bale.
"They have got a lot of good players and we need to make sure they worry about us as well."
Coleman needs no reminding of just how good Bale can be having had to deal with him just days after one of his best performances as a Tottenham player back in October 2010.
Three days after Bale had scored a stunning Champions League hat-trick against Inter Milan at the San Siro, Coleman and his Everton team-mates travelled to White Hart Lane and came away with a 1-1 draw.
"When he was doing really well against the likes of Inter Milan, I was a right midfielder and whenever we played them, it was a doubling-up job with Phil Neville. It had to be done," added Coleman.
"But he's really kicked on and he's gone on to great things."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Wales on Friday night. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7pm.
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