Wales expect win over hosts in China Cup opener

NANNING, China, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Even though some of the players suffered jet leg after a long journey, Wales coach Ryan Giggs said here on Wednesday that he will try to strike a balance between keeping players fit and getting good results in the China Cup soccer tournament.

"We had difficulties, players arriving at different time, jet leg, but overall, the facility is very good, the hotel is fantastic, so the preparation has gone as well as possible," said Giggs at the pre-match press conference.

Speaking of their first opponents, hosts China, Giggs said, "Our expectation is that it would be a tough game, first game against the hosts. China has a great manager. It's a tough game not only because they have a great manager, but also because they're at home and they want to win trophies. We watch their videos. They are very aggressive. They play wonderful football. So with all that in mind, it should be an attractive game".

The game versus China would be the first game of Giggs as the coach of Wales. When asked about his feeling for the first game, he said, "A lot of emotions are going around in my mind. The first is proud. I am proud to be the manager of Wales, I am proud to be coaching the players. And excited as well. I've been in the job now for over two months. I've been doing all the various building up of the game, preparing for the trip as best as I can. I'm really looking forward to the game tommorow."

When asked about his arrangement for the game tommorrow, Giggs said, "It's something we need to evaluate, with players' traveling, playing at the weekend. So it's about getting players out there a hundred percent fit. And also I brought my strongest team available. So there will be a lot of changing. I realized it's the most important part of the season for many players. But also I wanna win the game. So it's really about the balance, not taking any stupid risks and trying to get the team as competitive as possible."

When asked about his philosophy as a coach, Giggs said his philosophy is to win games, but to do it in the right way. "Just like when I was a player. You want to play good football, attractive football, but also you have to do the difficult things as well, which is the basics, working hard, working as a team. I'm very lucky that I've been carrying a team with good team spirit."

Speaking of the difference of roles as player and manager, As a player, Giggs said, "As a player, I was quite 'selfish', just making sure you are doing your job in the team. But as the manager, the coach, it's constantly going through your mind, 'have you forgotten anything?' 'What can be improved?' You have to prepare the team as best as you can. so it's completely different from being a player."

China will play Wales on March 22. The winner goes into the final directly and the loser enters the third-place playoff.

In the first edition of the tournament last year, China lost 2-0 to Iceland but finished third after beating Croatia in a penalty shootout. Enditem