Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium will play host to a colossal confrontation between two neighbouring countries on Saturday afternoon, with London at the heart of the Anglo-Welsh skirmish.
The Capital may in fact hold the key components to this fixture, with team-mates Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere squaring up in the middle, while Gareth Bale comes up against his club colleague Aaron Lennon down the flanks.
Bale, the current Wales Player and Sports Personality of the Year, former Young Player of the Year and youngest ever player and scorer for the Dragons, will have had plenty of practice against his diminutive North London comrade, who was himself once the youngest ever player both to play in the Premier League and to have his boots sponsored, as well as thrice being nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year, and who will line-up in direct opposition on Saturday.
With the emergence of Rafael van der Vaart’s dead-ball brilliance and Bale’s scintillating performances this season in open play, it is often forgotten that the one-time Southampton full-back is something of a set-piece specialist in his own right, having notched four of his first five goals in league football from free-kicks on the South coast and this could prove to be a lethal weapon for the Welsh at the weekend.
Both players’ journeys are as yet unfulfilled on the international stage, Bale edging marginally ahead on paper with three goals from 27 appearances and Lennon yet to score for his national side in 19 outings. But with pace to burn and athleticism in abundance, the Millenium Stadium outfield could be just the venue for one of these effervescent activists to kick-start their careers.
Millwall centre forward Steve Morrison also features in Gary Speed’s Wales squad, as does Crystal Palace’s reserve goalkeeper Lewis Price. For England, Londoners can be found in fistfuls following Fabio Capello’s selection of Tottenham strikers Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, as well as fellow Spurs Michael Dawson and Kyle Walker (currently on loan at Aston Villa) alongside Rob Green and Scott Parker from West Ham United and the Chelsea contingent, compiling Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole and led by their now fully restored skipper, John Terry.
With the Pride of Great Britain up for grabs amidst a potential audition for a spot in the Olympic Games side that will contest a gold medal in the City next summer, prepare for a compact 90-minute package of intense, muscular football.
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