England midfielder Jack Wilshere has hit back at comments made by Wales superstar Gareth Bale who criticised the Three Lions’ passion ahead of their clash on Thursday.
Bale accused England of not having as much passion as Wales and thinks that they always “big themselves up” without ever achieving anything.
It seems those comments have irked England midfielder Wilshere – who replaced Wayne Rooney with around 12 minutes left against Russia – as the Arsenal star has hit back at Bale.
Asked if Bale was right, Wilshere replied: “No. One thing about this team no one has ever questioned about is their pride and their passion.
“We know that Wales don’t like us. Do we like them? Not really! We know it is going to be a tough game and there are going to be tackles. It is going to be like a Premier League game.
“It gives us a chance to show the nation we have got a lot of passion. We are here to win and we are here for business. If we go out there and put in a good performance and win the game we are in a great position.
“We are all representing our country and we all love England. There are a lot of young players in there as well who are in their first tournament and with that comes no fear.
“If you put both teams down on paper, we would win the game but it doesn’t work like that in football. Everyone knows that. The Premier League is the perfect example of teams beating better teams at the end of the day.
“They want to show the nation what we can do and we will definitely be ready on that front. Everyone wants to play and show the manager they are ready.”
Bale spoke before his side’s opening European Championship game against Slovakia on Saturday and he delivered on the pitch when it mattered, scoring Wales’ first ever goal in the tournament.
However, England – and certainly Wilshere – failed to deliver as they were pegged back in the final minute against Russia in Marseille, drawing their opening game 1-1.
The Three Lions had plenty of chances to wrap up the game but wasted them and, in the end, were punished and now must defeat Wales on Thursday in Lens to stand a chance of going through to the knockout rounds.
Hal Robson-Kanu came off the bench for Wales to beat Slovakia as Chris Coleman’s changes made the difference on the day, while Roy Hodgson’s changes – taking Rooney off despite controlling midfield – had a damaging effect on his side as they lost control of the game in the final 10 minutes.
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