WALES are eyeing up a pre-Euro 2020 glamour friendly with arch rivals England.
Ryan Giggs’ side are in the finals draw today in Bucharest for the tournament next summer.
Wales want a glamour friendly with England in the build-up to Euro 2020Credit: Rex Features
And the Dragons are keen to prepare for Europe’s showpiece with a clash against Gareth Southgate’s side.
Welsh FA chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “I would not rule it out.”
Wales last played England at Euro 2016 where Daniel Sturridge scored an injury-time winner for the Three Lions.
But Chris Coleman’s side recovered and went on to reach the semi-finals against all the odds in France.
This time, Giggs’ men, who qualified after beating Hungary 2-0 last week, will be either Group A with Italy and two others or Group B alongside Denmark, Belgium and Russia.
Meanwhile, England have only arranged one friendly out of four dates before the finals with a clash versus the Danes booked in for Wembley at the end of March.
Ford added: “It is all open. It depends on who is on the group. We played Sweden as they played a similar style to Slovakia. We played Ukraine as they played like Russia.
“We have had approaches. I have spoken to Ryan about some of the things he needs to get his head around.
“We will get to the draw first and see who we get as that rules some in and some out. We would play teams who play like teams we are drawn with.
“It would be nice to do a home friendly and a send off match before we go. It is appropriate that they come to the table with their proposals and we try to accommodate it.”
England last played Wales at Euro 2016 – winning 2-1 – and before that in 2011Credit: Reuters
England are one of 12 host countries at Euro 2020.
But Ford believes non-host Wales are at a disadvantage.
He added: “It goes back to when Euro 2012 was being organised. There was a recession on at the time. Economic conditions were probably different to what they are at the moment.
“Poland and Ukraine were going through troubled times and it was a very difficult tournament for Uefa to organise and a very costly tournament.
“They made a decision at the time for the celebratory reasons and economic reasons that it would be better to do multiple countries. It is an experiment and I don’t think it will be repeated.
“There are some advantages to it. The disadvantages to it do mean that for a country like ourselves who are not hosting any particular matches mean that the draw is pre-determined to where we can play.
“We are playing quite far from home and in multiple locations. Also we will be playing group games in Copenhagen and St Petersburg or Rome or Baku. That is not great for the fans, let’s be honest.
“It does not really give you the sense in any one country of it all coming together and the euphoria for one country. It will be displaced and spread more.
“I am sure it will be a great success, don’t get me wrong. It is nice to see the Euros being celebrated in multiple countries and it will be great in England, Scotland, Ireland Holland and Germany, but it is more difficult for us.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
