Coleman expects more from Wales

07/07/2016

Wales boss Chris Coleman believes there is much more to come from his team following their elimination in the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

The Dragons have been one of the surprise packages of the tournament, topping Group B courtesy of wins over Slovakia and Russia before going on to defeat Northern Ireland and Belgium in the knockout rounds.

Their display against the Red Devils was arguably the performance of the Euros to date but they could not repeat the trick in the last four on Wednesday, as they went down 2-0 to Portugal, with Fernando Santos’ men now 2.75 to win the tournament.

Despite the defeat, after previously not qualifying for an international tournament since the 1958 World Cup, Wales have shown they belong on the international stage and their young squad is now understandably desperate for more success.

Their next target will be the 2018 World Cup and Coleman is confident his side will use their Euro adventure to spur them on to a place in Russia. “It’s always been that – qualifying regularly. There was a psychological barrier we needed to go through for the first one, given it had been so long,” Coleman said. “We’ve now sampled tournament football, such an experience… such a healthy vibe from people of all nations.

We want some more of that. We need some more of that. “Now, the one thing that will stop us from doing it again is ourselves. We’re good enough. “We have to be hungry, we have to have the same hunger and desire, and we’ll give the World Cup campaign a hell of a crack.”