Wales vs Croatia preview: Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale look ahead to crunch clash
Watch Wales vs Croatia on Sunday from 7.15pm on Sky Sports Football and Main Event; kick-off 7.45pm
Sunday 13 October 2019 19:30, UK
Wales can hurt Croatia in their crucial European Qualifier in Cardiff on Sunday, says manager Ryan Giggs, while Gareth Bale believes this is another huge moment for the nation.
Live Euro 2020 Qualifiers
A Wales win on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football, leaves their Euro 2020 destiny in their hands, with three points taking them to within three of Croatia with a crucial game in hand on the leaders in Group E.
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Lose and Croatia will seal their passage to next summer's tournament, setting up a straight shootout between Slovakia, Hungary and Wales for that runners-up spot with two games to play.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the clash, manager Giggs is confident Wales have the players to hurt the World Cup finalists, while Bale says this campaign is vital for the future of Welsh football.
Giggs: We can hurt Croatia
"It's going to have to be a team effort, concentration, and not just for 70 or 80 minutes but for 90 minutes," said Giggs. "At any time, a lapse will be punished by the best teams.
"But they're also going to have to be on their toes as well, because we've got good players that can hurt them.
"They've not got many weaknesses. They cause you a lot of problems, so if you let them get into that flow, they are hard to stop.
"We want to get in their faces, put them under pressure, rush them, and get the crowd up. We want to make it a good atmosphere. Also, for us to get on the ball, make them run, show our quality as well."
Bale: We want to inspire kids
"Everybody knows about Euro 2016, but we don't just want to qualify for one tournament, we want to qualify for multiple tournaments, for World Cups, for Euros.
"This is another moment that we want to take the opportunity to do that. We want to make football big in Wales, we want to not just qualify but inspire younger kids to play football to make our national team better in future as well.
"[We just need] a little bit of luck. Obviously confidence comes into it. Sometimes it just is like that in football, and it's one of those things you can't think too much about. I feel like goals are coming for the team. If we weren't creating the chances that would be the real worry."
Team news
Aaron Ramsey has been ruled out after failing to recover from a thigh injury.
Giggs could therefore switch his forward options around, with Bale likely to lead the line instead of Kieffer Moore, who the Wales boss confirmed will be assessed after picking up a knock against Slovakia.
Croatia, meanwhile, head to Cardiff with a clean bill of health and head coach Zlatko Dalic could name the same XI that started Thursday's 3-0 victory over Hungary, though Nikola Vlasic and Mateo Kovacic are pushing for a starting berth.
Opta stats
- Wales have never beaten Croatia in five previous meetings, drawing one and losing each of the last four.
- Wales have won each of their last four home games in all competitions, last winning more consecutively between May 1991-March 1993 (6 under Terry Yorath).
- Bale has been directly involved in 10 goals in his last nine competitive home games for Wales (8 goals, 2 assists).
- Croatia have opened the scoring in all three of their away games so far in Euro 2020 qualifying, but have only gone on to win one of those games (D1 L1).
Watch Wales vs Croatia on Sunday from 7.15pm on Sky Sports Football and Main Event; kick-off 7.45pm
