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WALES boss Chris Coleman insisted yesterday that Real Madrid will let Gareth Bale play on Andorra’s artificial pitch if it passes a Fifa inspection tomorrow.
Coleman was in Madrid last week, meeting Real manager Carlo Ancelotti and star player Bale.
Top of the agenda is the new 3G pitch in the tiny state sandwiched between France and Spain, which Fifa boffins will be checking tomorrow, carrying out tests to determine how the surface reacts to players’ skin, how the ball rolls on the turf and how it absorbs the shock of players falling.
“Ideally we’d be on the grass as we’re not used to playing on a 3G pitch,” Coleman said after naming a 23-man squad which includes talented youngsters Tom Lawrence and George Williams, but is without veteran centre-back Danny Gabbidon.
“I was speaking to Carlo and he said when Madrid played on 3G pitch against weaker opposition the players struggled because they didn’t like the surface.
“My message to our players is ‘forget where we’re playing’. We’ve got to get a result and whatever the surface we’ve got to get through it and do our job.
“If Fifa say we’re not going to play on that pitch and we’re going to play on the grass, we’ll play on the grass.
“But if they say we’ve got to play on 3G, we’ll play on 3G — and get a result. That’s how it is.”
