Euro 2016: Gareth Bale warns Wales not to wreck their dreams by looking beyond Northern Ireland
Real Madrid star says: We came here to win the tournament but we can't take our eyes off the Irish
GARETH BALE has warned his Wales teammates not to blow their Euro 2016 dreams by looking past Northern Ireland.
Wales have given themselves a great chance of going deep in the tournament with all the international giants now in the other half of the draw.
But despite insisting the Dragons are only in France to win, he says things can co horribly wrong if the side start to plot a route to the final in Paris.
Bale said: "You come to the tournament for one reason, to win the tournament.
"You don’t just come here to play three games and then go home.
"The ultimate goal is we want to try and win the tournament. We know that each and every game is as important as the last.
"It’s always a cliche but it’s very true for us, we’ll take each game as it comes.
"Yes, we would love to win it, but all our focus now is on Northern Ireland, that game.
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"And until that whistle goes we can’t think of a second later. We can’t think about the quarter-finals.
"We know the side of the draw we are on, maybe it’s a bit more favourable to the other side. But it’s not favourable if you don’t get through."
Wales know topping Group B has given their hopes a massive boost, and go into the knock-out stages full of confidence after their 3-0 win over Russia.
But for the first time in the competition, Chris Coleman's side approach a game as favourites to win - a position they need to get used to.
Bale added: "For us, we concentrate on ourselves whether we are favourites or not. The tag doesn’t matter to us, we all know what we need to do.
"We’ll be going out on the pitch like any other game, going out to win the game.
"We know a lot about them, a lot of their players play in England, but they are going to know us also.
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"It will be a very British type game, we know that, but if we can match the performance we gave against Russia then we have a very good chance.
"We’ve spoken a number of times in the camp amongst ourselves, it’s all about us, we have no fear.
"We go out every game with 100 per cent, no regrets, and we will go out this weekend with exactly the same attitude.
"The confidence is high after a great performance and victory against Russia. It’s another new challenge, new experience and we’ll make sure everyone is ready."