Wales manager Chris Coleman says that he does not want to qualify for the Euro 2016 through the play-offs but through the automatic places. After having not qualified for the major competition for several years, Wales are ranked outsiders to reach the Euro 2016. However, they are only helped by the fact that the tournament has been expanded to include more teams. This has meant that there will be at least three possible teams that reach the final from a single group. The first two places will automatically qualify for the Euro 2016 while the third placed team will have to go through a play-off.
A morale boasting 3-1 win over Iceland back in March has just been followed by a 2-0 defeat against Netherlands in June. However, a number of Welsh players are playing at the top of the game right now and this includes Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. As a result, Wales go into the first qualifying match against Andorra confident of three points. Being an away match, a victory would be a major boost for Wales as they hope to get ahead of Belgium and Cyprus – the toughest opponents in the group. There are two home matches during the month of October which will provide further opportunities to increase their chances of qualification.
“I sense the expectation and two years ago I would have been wary of it. I’m not now and I won’t shy away from it. We have to take it as a compliment and deal with it, and if we do that we’ll do the business. Belgium and Bosnia are the top teams and then it’s the other four, but we have a chance to put pressure on those two. I don’t want to go at it thinking there’s a possibility of a play-off. Let’s go for the top two, that’s what we have to aim for,” said Coleman.