England will beat Wales in their Euro 2016 Group B clash in Lens on Thursday if they match the team spirit of Chris Coleman's side.
England will beat Wales in their Euro 2016 Group B clash in Lens on Thursday if they match the team spirit of Chris Coleman's side, according to former captain David Beckham. Wales top the group after their 2-1 victory over Slovakia at the weekend while England were held 1-1 by Russia in Marseille. "It's a big game," Beckham said in a BBC interview. "I think we will win but I don't think it's going to be easy. Chris Coleman has done such a great job and Wales have a great team spirit. It's going to be a challenging game." Beckham, at London' Queen's Club for the traditional grasscourt warm-up ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships, said England's players would go into the match buoyant despite conceding a stoppage-time equaliser against Russia
. "We played well and the performance was great but the goal at the end was unfortunate," said Beckham, who captained England at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and 2004 European Championship. "If we had scored the second goal, we would have raved about the performance. But they played with the passion the fans want to see and the energy and didn't seem to care too much about being on the big stage. So that was good to see." England will be wary of Real Madrid's Gareth Bale for a match that many predict will be like a Premier League tussle. "It will be a great match to watch," Beckham said.
"Bale has had a great season and scored a great goal (against Slovakia)." England manager Roy Hodgson has hit out at critics who have questioned his team's patriotism and desire ahead of their European Championship clash against Wales in Lens on Thursday. Wales striker Gareth Bale last week said his team had "more passion and pride" than England, who "big themselves up before they've done anything". Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev also labelled Hodgson's men the weakest seeded team in the Euro 2016 prior to Saturday's draw with England. "I've been in the game sufficiently long to know every opponent has got an opinion," Hodgson told reporters. "The other day it was Akinfeev saying we were the worst seeded team and now it's Gareth Bale.
They can have those opinions but I don't have any doubts personally about our patriotism or desire and that's the important thing." England midfielder Eric Dier, who scored the opener in Saturday's draw, said the match against Wales was identical to a Premier League game. "I think it might be a bit less like an international game and a bit more of an English game, especially with the players involved," said the Tottenham Hotspur player. "It might be a bit different to all the other games you've seen in the tournament, so I think that's good for the spectators as well. It's a massive game for them and for us." England, who are bidding for their first major international title since the 1966
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