The Football Association of Wales made it clear that they did not sight UEFA by not wearing the Respect patches against Finland in a friendly. Wales were forced to travel to Russia for their friendly which later boss Robert Page described as a logistical nightmare. They raised quite a few eyebrows when they played the match without the Respect badge on their jerseys.
“Sleeve patches are not a requirement for friendlies,” said a FAW spokesman. “We didn’t wear them [in June friendlies] against France or Albania and neither did they.”
Wales preparation for their match in Kazan was not off to the best start as they played out a goalless draw against Finland. They were forced to field a weakened side as a number of their first-team regulars were out through injury. The starting XI had a combined 160 caps of experience between them.
“It was a worthwhile exercise and a lot of them have given me a headache for Sunday,” Wales boss Page said after they did not wear the UEFA Respect badges. “The two midfielders, Dylan (Levitt) and Matt (Smith), gave a good account of themselves. We know they are gifted footballers and that’s why they’re in the squad, but to go and give a performance like that was excellent. We’ll see what we do on Sunday. We’ve had an issue at the top of the pitch with the injuries we’ve had and now losing Kieffer (Moore), and that’s something we need to look at.”
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