Euro giants are scared of playing Wales – Coleman

Wales manager Chris Coleman claims the biggest teams in European football are scared to face his nation in a friendly.

The Welsh are on the verge of qualifying for Euro 2016 and are looking to schedule two glamour friendlies in November to celebrate the achievement.

Despite being ranked eighth in the world and currently topping Group B in the Euro qualifiers, the Football Association of Wales has struggled to nail down a big name for its friendlies.

Coleman suggested the likes of Italy and Spain, two of the most successful European nations, are scared of losing rankings points against the Welsh.

“We have been turned down by one or two, including Italy. I don’t know, maybe they are scared,” Coleman said.

“We are in that spot where we are a danger to some of the big boys in that we could win, but we are not seen as being as big as Italy, Spain or England.

“You look at the friendly games and the big boys keep it among themselves and that’s disappointing.

“We thought we might be able to tempt a Spain or a Germany and find out how good we are but there’s been no interest.

“We had Holland last summer and you want to play against those sides, those juggernauts. There’s talk of Argentina after Christmas.

“Should we get to France then we need a couple of really good juicy ones before we get out there.”

However, Coleman is optimistic Wales may be able to tempt some of the big teams depending on December’s draw for the group stage of the Euros.

Wales are also close to securing a friendly against Lionel Messi’s Argentina at the Millennium Stadium.

“It will be easier once we know the draw, if we’re in the mix,” he said. “The Argentina game has been on the cards for a long time and it would be great if we could tie that down after Christmas. That would be fantastic.”

Wales need just one point from their final two games against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Andorra to qualify for their first major tournament in 58 years.