Bale happy to aim for top spot in France

Gareth Bale says there is no reason why Wales cannot win their group at Euro 2016. Chris Coleman’s team are ready to begin what will be Wales’ first major international tournament since 1958 and Bale says they are not going to France to make up numbers.

Wales start their campaign on Saturday against Slovakia in Bordeaux and Real Madrid superstar Bale says they will look to win that game, as well as their subsequent clashes with England and Russia.

“We’re not going there just to make up the numbers,” Bale told a BBC documentary. “We want to win every game that we play, we want to win the group and give ourselves the best chance. “No matter who we play we feel confident in our abilities we can win. We’ll go out there and try and do that.”

Bale was the driving force behind Wales ending their 58-year tournament exile, scoring seven of their 11 goals as they qualified behind group winners Belgium.

Coleman was left sweating after Bale appeared to be limping towards the end of Real Madrid’s recent Champions League final win over city rivals Atletico.

All seems well with the winger however and he is relishing the chance to feature on the big stage with his Welsh team-mates.

He expects the spirit on the pitch to favour Wales at the Euros. “We all feel like brothers and will literally do anything for each other. We’ve all been together for such a long time and get on really well,” he added.

“We know each other’s games and we all fight for each other on the pitch.” Wales are 5.50 to win Group B while they are 1.57 to qualify for the last-16.