Wales were doing their best to create the atmosphere they have been denied in Amsterdam, on Friday night.
As 5,000 Danes began pouring into Amsterdam to watch their team – the darlings of this tournament – the Welsh FA were compiling a medley of clips of schoolchildren singing the national anthem, ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’, for the team to view, having asked them to make that a part of their day.
With Dutch authorities refusing access to Wales fans and every local in Holland seemingly cheering for Denmark, it’s going to be more of the attrition that interim manager Rob Page’s side have encountered everywhere they’ve travelled in this tournament – from a Turkey-loving Baku to an Italy-obsessed Rome.
Wales are ready to once again play underdog when they face Denmark in Amsterdam
Gareth Bale laughed when it was put to him that everyone in the world seemed to be supporting the other team. ‘That’s normal, anyway!’ he said. ‘Yes, we’re always the underdog. We’re used to that tag. But it doesn’t make any difference to us.’
Both Bale and Page spoke well about Christian Eriksen, whose collapse on the pitch against Finland two weeks ago has engendered such extraordinary support for the team. ‘What a great job the Denmark team did with that,’ Bale said of the team, which circled the player, and captain Simon Kjaer, who is expected to receive some form of honour from UEFA when this tournament is over.
But the biggest challenge for a Wales side who had grown accustomed to garnering the neutral support will be shutting all of that noise out. It won’t be easy. There will be a temptation to use the atmosphere to create a form of siege mentality, though as striker Kieffer Moore observed on Thursday, that could distract and hamper the team.
‘The world has taken note of what happened and the emotion involved,’ Page said. But we can’t get involved in that now. It’s work as usual for us. We have a job to do and we want to go out and finish it.’
The city will be mainly Denmark fans with Welsh supporters refused entry into the country
Wales can usually bank on their fierce, small-nation mentality giving them an edge, though this is very much how the Danes view themselves, too.
In the Danish media on Friday, the focus was on the modest footballing backgrounds of players like defender Jens Stryger Larsen. This is the kind of narrative which Wales usually have the monopoly over. ‘Wales reminds us of ourselves,’ their coach Kasper Hjulmand said.
But Page, who is expected to return to the starting line-up and formation which secured four points in the group stage, can take strength from the fact that Wales are under less pressure than when entering their last-16 game against Northern Ireland, five years ago.
In Parc des Princes back then, Wales found themselves as improbable favourites, having beaten England to top their group. Here, the onus is on the Danes, seven places above 17th placed Wales in the FIFA world rankings, to find an ending befitting their own narrative. ‘For us, the pressure is off, defender Ben Davies said earlier this week. ‘We have kind of surpassed that pressure stage of getting out of the group. Now it is about seeing how far we can go.’
In Denmark, there is angst about penalties, three years after the nation’s exit from the 2018 World Cup in a shoot-out against eventual finalists Croatia. Kasper Schmeichel saved two Croatian kicks – in addition to one in extra time – but three Danes fluffed theirs.
Gareth Bales says it won’t bother them after playing underdog in most games they play
They’ve practiced kicks far more assiduously this time but Schmeichel was extremely resistant to discuss the subject. ‘I’m not talking about penalty kicks,’ he said this week. ‘I never talk about penalty kicks. It would be foolish to give something away.’
Outperforming Schmeichel would certainly be sweet for Wales’ Danny Ward, who can’t get a Premier League game at Leicester because of him, though there was mutual admiration between the two. ‘We have great competition and we have a really good relationship,’ Schmeichel said of Ward. ‘I don’t see any weakness in him. He’s a complete goalkeeper.’
Page has had his players walking up from the halfway line to create a sense of how a shoot-out will be. ‘We’re prepared for it,’ he said. We’ve got an idea of who they’ll be, but it’s up to the players at the time. It’s pointless in us saying “these are the five”. For whatever circumstances in the game, it changes.’
He has five players on yellow cards, though there will be no caution tonight, even though bookings are not wiped out until after the quarter finals. ‘It’s all out now,’ Page said.
‘The gloves are off now. We are in the knockout stages and there is no managing bookings. We are fully ready for it now. We are in for a tough challenge. We have to match them in every department, from a physicality point of view and work-rate, and then earn the right to play football.’
The tie will see Leicester No 1 ‘keeper Kaspar Schmeichel come up against No 2 Danny Ward
After the defensive resolve and counter-attacking style his side have shown in this tournament, there are reasons for belief. This is a different Wales side from the one beaten twice in three months by Denmark in the Nations League, three years ago. Bale waved away detail about Wales never having won on Dutch turf. ‘I’m not sure I’ve played too much in the Netherlands!’ he said.
As always, much may depend on a moment of genius from the 31-year-old, who always seems to find a way when the big games like this come along. It would be no surprise if this is the game when he breaks his run of 14 games without a goal for Wales.
It was Bale whom the continental journalists wanted to talk about on Friday, though as always in this tournament he refused to let the conversation go that way. ‘It’s not really about me,’ he said. ‘It’s about Wales and the game. I’m not bothered what people think of me. All I’m worried about is trying to do my best for Wales, trying to get us through to the next round.’