362 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
362 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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football
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competitions
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european-championships-2012
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8404964
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-----
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# Wales v England: Gareth Bale's absence hits Gary Speed's side hard as
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Dragons fire looks like more hot air
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## Nothing enhances a footballer's reputation like playing England.
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![Wales v England: Gareth Bale's absence hits hosts hard as Dragon's fire
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looks like more hot air][1]
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Big loss: Gareth Bale will miss Wales' showdown with England Photo: AP
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[![Jim White][2]][3]
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By [Jim White][4] 6:10AM GMT 25 Mar 2011
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[Comments][5]
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All week ahead of their European Championship qualifier, the English papers
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have been filled with reports on how strong [**Wales**][6] are.
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All week, the trio of Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy has been
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workshopped up into the celtic Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. And the
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[**England**][7] players themselves have been the principal agents of
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reputational inflation.
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Peter Crouch has warned of the threat the three of them pose, John Terry has
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spoken of their speed and cunning, James Milner even insisted there would be
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no shame in losing to a team that can call on such dangerous assets.
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Never mind that it sounded less a case of offering up all due respect than
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getting in your excuses early, how different things must look from a Welsh
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perspective.
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The view from the west end of the Severn Bridge is of a team propping up Group
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G, a team which has thus far in the campaign accumulated a grand total of zero
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points, a team whose ignominious 4-1 defeat to Switzerland in their last
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qualifier led to the departure of the previous manager.
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## Related Articles
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* [Ramsey to captain Wales side missing Bale][8]
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24 Mar 2011
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* [Lampard fears for England future][9]
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24 Mar 2011
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* [More than a one-man team][10]
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24 Mar 2011
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* [Bale forced out of England clash][11]
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24 Mar 2011
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* [Ramsey versus Wilshere][12]
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23 Mar 2011
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* [Pearce offered new U21 contract][13]
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23 Mar 2011
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To be told all of a sudden that they are, in fact, in possession of the finest
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threesome to share a pitch since Law, Best and Charlton must come as something
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of a surprise. Especially as, thanks to a catalogue of injuries, they have yet
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to play together in the Welsh jersey.
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Indeed what unifies the threesome more than a passion for the national cause
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is a familiarity with the treatment room. Take Bale. He is rapidly developing
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into the new Ryan Giggs mainly in this respect: he is someone whose hamstrings
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forever conspire against him turning out for his country.
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Now that the player reckoned by Tottenham followers to be the best in Europe
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has succumbed to another tweak and has withdrawn from this match, it is not
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just in the household of his club manager Harry Redknapp that the news was
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greeted with whoops and hollers. Without him to face, even the self-doubting
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members of the England dressing room must believe they have a chance.
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Because the truth is, the withdrawal of Bale has hit Wales far harder than the
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combined unavailability of Theo Walcott, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard has
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England. While Fabio Capello might -- as he did last week during his lunch
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with the press -- bemoan the fact that only 34 per cent of Premier League
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players qualify for selection to the national team, at least he has something
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in reserve.
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Imagine how the Welsh coach must feel as his principal asset heads for an
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appointment with the physio. If the wider choice is diminished for the England
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boss, for Gary Speed, in a league now largely populated by Brazilians,
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Norwegians and Serbs, the pickings look thinner than the covering on Wayne
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Rooney's scalp.
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With so few players to choose from, he is already reduced to studying the
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birth certificates of Championship reserves in the hope that he might find a
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relative who once took a short break in Tenby.
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The moment Bale announced himself unavailable, Speed's room for manoeuvre
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disappeared. At this rate, it won't be long before he's obliged to offer a
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route back to the international fold to Gavin Henson.
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And things are unlikely to get better for Speed as his Welsh career unfolds.
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Capello also pointed out last week that the Premier League extracts a unique
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toll on its participants. Because the weekly demands they face are not as
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onerous as those in England, Italian, Spanish and German players do not arrive
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at major tournaments at the season's end in as exhausted a condition as the
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English.
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It is a simple choice we have to make, between the most vibrant, aggressive,
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competitive league in the world, or a decent international team. Speed will
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inevitably find himself collateral in the Premier League fallout.
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With so few means, he will have to sit by and watch them pummelled and
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battered on a weekly basis, knowing the chances of all his decent players
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being declared fit for his use are about as great as his chances of getting
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the English-born Steve Morison to learn the words of _Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau _by
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Saturday afternoon.
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Still, there's always Craig Bellamy. And never mind that he is currently in
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exile in the Championship, never mind that he is approaching his 32nd
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birthday, never mind that he has yet to win anything in his career, all week
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the Cardiff headcase has been elevated to the pantheon of strikers.
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With his pace, his attitude, his desire, he has been reckoned the best England
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could face. At least until they encounter Ghana's Asamoah Gyan next Wednesday.
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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championships-2012/8404964/Wales-v-England-Gareth-Bales-absence-hits-Gary-
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Speeds-side-hard-as-Dragons-fire-looks-like-more-hot-air.html
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Telegraph
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## [European Championships 2012][19]
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* ### [Sport »][20]
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* ### [Jim White »][3]
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* ### [Football »][21]
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* ### [Wales »][6]
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* ### [England »][7]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* Advertisement
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![][22]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][23] [blog
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[1]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01856/bale_ap_1856657c.jpg
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[2]:
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[3]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/jimwhite/
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[4]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/jimwhite/ (Jim White)
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[5]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/european-
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championships-2012/8404964/Wales-v-England-Gareth-Bales-absence-hits-Gary-
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Speeds-side-hard-as-Dragons-fire-looks-like-more-hot-air.html#disqus_thread
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[6]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/wales/
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Euro-2012-qualifier-but-Gareth-Bale-ruled-out-with-injury.html
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[9]: /sport/football/teams/england/8402611/Wales-v-England-Fabio-Capello-
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considers-omitting-Frank-Lampard-from-team-to-play-Euro-2012-qualifer.html
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