When Wales and England play each other in the World Cup on Tuesday night, Wales defender Joe Rodon can’t wait to go up against England captain Harry Kane.
Rodon and his Welsh teammates haven’t done well so far at the tournament in Qatar. They have only gotten one point from their two games against the U.S. and Iran, and they could be kicked out of the tournament if they can’t beat the British. Even then, what happened to them would depend on what the other group members did.
There was some debate about whether Kane should play from the start against Wales. England is doing well in Group B and is set to move on to the next round unless they lose by four goals or something crazy. But Rodon, who played with Kane at Tottenham before going on loan to Rennes at the start of the season, is ready to face what he calls a “world-class striker.”
“I’ve played against him in training maybe a million times. He is one of the best players in the world, “Kane, Rodon said.
“Over the last two seasons, training with these players has helped me improve. It will be a big challenge in a real game because he is a great player who has been doing it for a long time. I have been lucky enough to train with players like him.
“It will be a great challenge for me, and I’m looking forward to it. He is a world-class striker and a great finisher with both feet. He has scored a lot of goals and is a great finisher.”
Rodon is on loan to Ligue 1 team Rennes for the season. As part of the deal, Rennes can make the loan deal permanent if they want to. But Gareth Bale, a player Rodon used to play with at Tottenham, will join the centre-back as Wales fights for its life on Tuesday night to stay in the World Cup. This is Wales’ first World Cup in 64 years.
The relationship between the two is strong, and Wales will need to stick together if they want to beat England. This is especially true after their last two losses and after Bale and others were criticized for how they played in Qatar. But Rodon says Bale is a key part of making things easier in the camp when things are stressful, which helps Wales.
“He is famous, and from what I know, he is always joking around. “Rodon said this about the leader of Wales. “Being the kind of player he is, he always makes the group feel better.
“You have seen that he has always come through. We can’t believe we have him as a country. We’re happy to have him and hope to have him for a long time.
“We all know what he can do as a player, and we respect and look up to him.”
