Rob Page has called on his Wales team to give their supporters the chance to enjoy the Euro 2024 experience.
Wales are still two wins away from qualification but now know that if they can make it to the tournament they face mouthwatering matches against the Netherlands, Austria and France in Group D.
Page and his team will have home backing from the ‘Red Wall’ for their play-off semi against Finland on March 21 and the final against either Poland or Estonia on March 26 should they progress.
He wants his players to be buoyed on by the thought of setting up a Welsh party in Germany after challenging assignments for the fans at the last two major tournaments.
“Off the back of 2016 we’ve had Euro 2020, but because of Covid we were limited with travel,” he told the PA news agency.
“The World Cup (in Qatar last year) was very difficult for our supporters to get to, and respect to the supporters who got out there.
“For them to have a tournament that is close by, well organised, you know what the tournament is going to be like. For our supporters to experience that will be an extra bit of incentive to go and get the results (in March).”
Wales and France have faced each other six times before but never competitively, while Wales have lost all 10 of their previous encounters with the Dutch.
Nevertheless, Page is relishing the matches facing his side if they can make it to Germany.
“When you dream of becoming a footballer as a kid, you want to play against top teams, you want to play against top players, and those teams that are drawn in that group certainly fall into the category,” he said.
“They’re the best teams in Europe and well respected in world football and rightly so.
“For us to get there will be a big achievement and to look forward to playing those teams is incredible for the players again.”
Page also believes playing such big competitive matches less than three months before the finals will stand his team in good stead.
“I think so. It’s important that we strip the emotion out of it, I thought we handled (the World Cup play-offs for Qatar) really well and the big players on the occasion stepped up and delivered,” he added.
“It’s a different team, a different squad, we’re in transition. I’m trying to introduce some of the young players in like Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson.
“We will be fully focused on March to get the games won, but what a carrot that (draw) is.”
Wales’ first match would be a 2pm UK time kick-off against the Netherlands on Sunday, June 16 should they make it, before facing Austria at 5pm UK time on June 21.
A match against France at 5pm UK time on June 25 would round off the group campaign.
Leverkusen star Wirtz named Bundesliga Player of the Year
Florian Wirtz played a starring role for Bayer Leverkusen this season and has been named the Bundesliga Player of the Year.
Wirtz scored 11 goals and provided a further 11 assists on the way to helping Leverkusen win their first-ever top-flight title.
The forward was pivotal in Leverkusen’s title charge as they became the first German team to complete an unbeaten season.
Only Victor Boniface has scored more goals than Wirtz this campaign, netting 14 times, while his tally of 11 assists is second only to Alejandro Grimaldo (13) across the Bundesliga.
Wirtz came off the bench to score a hat-trick in Leverkusen’s 5-0 win over Werder Bremen in April which clinched the title with five games remaining.
The Bundesliga champions still have the German Cup final on Saturday against Kaiserslautern, which follows the Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
Wirtz played a critical role in helping Leverkusen reach their third European final, having been involved in eight goals in the Europa League this season (four goals, four assists), the most of any player in the team.
He has also created 28 chances from open play in the competition, a tally only five players can better in a Europa League campaign, most recently Amin Younes for Ajax in 2016-17 (30).
In all competitions, Leverkusen’s unbeaten run stretches to 51 matches, as they aim to finish an unbeaten season with a treble.
Kane injury doubt for England Euro 2024 squad
Harry Kane may be a doubt for England’s Euro 2024 squad as he continues to struggle with a back problem.
Gareth Southgate is due to name his preliminary squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday, ahead of upcoming friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland.
The England captain missed the final two Bundesliga games of the season after going off towards the end of Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
Thomas Tuchel confirmed prior to their final match against Hoffenheim that Kane was back in England to undergo treatment.
When later asked again about the nature of the striker’s injury, Tuchel admitted that Kane had been struggling for a couple of weeks.
"In Madrid, it was borderline. We tried injections and treatments. The back has completely closed.
"It has gotten worse and kept breaking out in small, everyday movements. There's no chance he's even training."
Kane scored 36 league goals in his debut campaign for Bayern, though due to the injury, he finished five adrift of Robert Lewandowski’s single-season goal record of 41, set in 2019-20.
The final announcement of Southgate's 26-man squad will be revealed on June 7, ahead of the tournament opener against Serbia on June 16.
Pochettino prioritising continuity as Chelsea draw up transfer plans
Mauricio Pochettino feels continuity will be key for Chelsea ahead of his second season in charge, ruling out the prospect of another clear-out at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea clinched European qualification on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, a 2-1 win over Bournemouth ensuring they beat Newcastle United and Manchester United to sixth place.
The Blues finished the campaign with five straight victories, the first time they have achieved that feat since doing so in March 2022 under Thomas Tuchel.
A positive end to Pochettino's debut campaign has quietened talk of his job being under threat, and he wants to see evolution rather than revolution ahead of 2024-25.
"Does the club need new signings? Always, you can improve," Pochettino said after Sunday's victory.
"They are going to be much better next season because they will have one year of experience, a tough experience.
"That is the advantage of being solid and consistent and not making too many changes.
"Next season, if we keep 80 to 85 per cent of the squad, for sure it is a big step forward because it is about having continuity in the ideas and the knowledge between them. That is important for the club.
"That is a club decision. Like it was from the beginning, we [the coaching staff] are going to be there to help and if not, we are going to do our job."
Chelsea only lost one of their final 15 matches of the Premier League season (nine wins, five draws), with that defeat coming by a 5-0 scoreline at Arsenal in April.
Only Manchester City, Arsenal (16 each) and Liverpool (12) won more Premier League games than Chelsea's 10 between the turn of the year and the end of the campaign, with their total of 43 goals in that time ranking them fifth among all teams in the division.
Chelsea's overall tally of 77 goals in 2023-24 was their third-most in a Premier League season, behind only their title-winning campaigns of 2009-10 (103) and 2016-17 (85).
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