Wales is headed to the World Cup for the first time since 1958, a monumental accomplishment for the soccer-mad nation. Wales will be in group play alongside England, the United States, and Iran, opening the competition against the U.S. on November 21.
With Gareth Bale at the helm, the Welsh have a legitimate superstar but are otherwise underdogs to advance out of the group, with the U.S. and England as the favorites. Still, after an impressive qualifying run that saw them go through the playoffs, defeating Ukraine 1-0 in the playoff final, they have to feel like they have a punchers chance to make a little noise.
In case the squad isn’t fired up enough by going to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years, Welsh native Michael Sheen delivered an impromptu hype speech on a TV program that had everyone on set ready to fight for Wales once he reached the crescendo and brought the speech home.
https://twitter.com/MichaelWarbur17/status/1568239667744575491
The best part of this is watching the reaction of everyone else around him as they can’t help but get pumped up by his speech themselves. I don’t think the host imagined it would be this good when he asked for it, as he ended it saying he’s never felt more Welsh, while Micah Richards looks like he’s ready to go play 90 minutes for the Welsh squad immediately.
If Wales doesn’t fly Sheen into Qatar for their first match to get the boys fired up, I’m not sure what they’re doing, because while motivational speeches and forced efforts to hype teams up can sometimes land flat, this is genuinely incredible and I would like to go run through a wall now for Wales, a place I have never been.
