Phil Neville won’t be bothered by the Welsh boo boys and girls at Rodney Parade on Friday night – in fact, he rather agrees with the idea of haranguing his England side.
Jess Fishlock, Wales’ most experienced player, called on Welsh fans to boo the English players to try to give the home side an edge in the winner-takes-all Women’s World Cup qualifier at Newport.
After all, at stake is the biggest prize in football – a trip to the World Cup finals in France next year.
Perhaps that’s why England boss Neville admits he would have done exactly the same thing as Wales’ most capped player in trying to stoke up the atmosphere ahead of the 5,000 sell-out occasion.
“I’d be saying exactly the same if I was Wales, I really would. Boo, hiss, do whatever you can to put England off their game,” said Neville.
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What once seemed so far away now seems so close.
Touching distance in fact.
An opportunity that cannot be missed.
Tonight, with #TheRedWall behind us, it is time once again to turn our dreams into reality.
— FA WALES (@FAWales) August 31, 2018
“The atmosphere will be really good. They have home advantage, they are top of the group and it is basically a knockout situation – the winner takes it all.
“Whoever wins is going to a World Cup and whoever doesn’t will be suffering. We are on their patch and they have got to do whatever it takes to win.
“You’ve got to admire that kind of planning, the choice of venue and their siege mentality, and I’d do exactly the same. The men did it when they went to the Euros with Chris Coleman and there is a real momentum with Welsh football.
“We are treating this game as if we were playing the likes of USA, Germany or France. I don’t think women’s football in Britain has had an occasion like this in the last four or five years.”
England received only 270 tickets for the game because of the restricted capacity at the venue and the pitch has been narrowed by 12 feet to its minimum standard to try to contain a side ranked 25 places higher than Wales at No 4.
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“It’s our home, it’s our choice and we’ve chosen this venue because it works for us. We’ve played well here and it’s close to our training environment,” said Wales boss Jayne Ludlow.
“Right now a 30,000 stadium would not be filled and, if it was, it would have been full of English people and that’s not what we want.
“It’s been a fantastic campaign and I’m proud of what the group has done. We’re very pleased at where we are right now but there’s a lot more to come from us.”
The maths on the night is simple for both teams. Wales, who currently top Group 1 by a point from England, have to win their final game to guarantee qualification.
Neville’s team still have to play in Kazakhstan on Tuesday and could afford a draw in Newport if then go on to win the pool with victory next week. If they lose tonight (Friday), then they will have to hope they can qualify for France via the play-offs .
“Wales deserve the utmost respect from us and we know we are going to have to be at our very best to win this game or get a result. We are under no illusions about that,” added Neville.
The last time England skipper Steff Haughton played in Wales was for Team GB at the Millennium Stadium at the 2012 Olympic Games. That was in front of 31,000 fans, but the Manchester City defender is ready for anything the Welsh players and fans can throw at her and her team tonight (Friday).
“Our only focus is on ourselves and the football we can play. We’ve had some good experiences playing in front of big, hostile crowds before,” said Haughton.
“In 2015, at the quarter-finals of a World Cup in Canada, we had 45,000 Canadians booing us and trying to make it as hostile as they could. We are experienced in these kind of occasions and I think it brings out the best in the girls.”
Wales (Probable): O’Sullivan; Roberts, Ingle (captain), Dykes, Ladd, Harding; James, Rowe, Fishlock; Green, Ward.
England (Probable): Telford; Bronze, Houghton (captain), McManus, Stokes; Nobbs, Walsh; Parris, Kirby, Duggan; Taylor.
