No petty squabbles, warns Giggs

Wales remain hopeful Ryan Giggs will be fit to line-up against Russia in tonight’s crunch Euro 2004 showdown at the Millennium Stadium.

But the Manchester United star is urging his countrymen to make sure they play the game, and not the occasion.

Giggs was yesterday cleared to play in Cardiff after UEFA rejected Russia’s bid to have him kicked out of the match.

UEFA’s disciplinary chiefs rejected an appeal by the Russian Football Union to have the midfielder banned following an alleged elbow on defender Vadim Evseev in Saturday’s explosive first leg in Moscow.

But the Manchester United star will have to face a UEFA charge of “improper conduct” at a later date, which could result in a subsequent ban, but most likely will be a fine.

Boss Mark Hughes, though, has revealed Giggs is not yet a definite starter, after suffering a shin injury in one tackle on him by Evseev, which he described as “one of the worst I have had to contend with in my career”.

“We hope he will be fit, but he is still suffering from that very bad tackle,” said Hughes.

“He is very sore at the moment, but we hope he will be there. It is still a worry, he has lacerations the whole length of his shin and that is always a risk.

“We have good medical people here so we believe he will overcome that. You always worry about losing someone like Ryan, for whatever reason.”

Giggs, meanwhile, believes if Wales are to secure a place in their first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, they must put what happened in Moscow to the back of their minds.

“I don’t think anyone could describe the first leg as the most good-natured game they’ve ever played in or watched,” said Giggs.

“There was definitely an edge to the whole game.

“That incident [with Evseev] as well as the intimidating atmosphere that surrounded Saturday will ensure a fierce contest in Cardiff – but it’s important we don’t get dragged into petty squabbles.

“We’ve got to play with aggression, but we’ve got to make sure it’s controlled aggression.”

He added: “We have to earn the right to play our football, but it’s not in our interests to look for revenge for anything that happened at the weekend.”

The Football Association of Wales will appeal against the decision to charge Giggs with the lesser offence of improper conduct, which is due to be heard at a UEFA hearing on December 4 and could see him handed a suspension from the opening matches of the Euro 2004 finals, should Hughes’ men qualify tonight.

After a tape of the incident failed to arrive at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland, the Russians sent a video clip of the match via e-mail late on Tuesday afternoon.

That forced UEFA to consider the appeal, which they would not have done had the evidence not arrived in Nyon until the day of the match.

But after disciplinary committee members had reviewed the incident, they decided it was not serious enough for a violent conduct charge, although the Welshman still has a case to answer.

“We will obviously appeal on Ryan’s behalf,” said FAW international secretary Mark Evans.

“We are clearly not happy that the decision seems to have been made on e-mail evidence.

“We would want UEFA to look at the whole match, certainly the incidents leading up to the clash with the Russian player.

“We would want UEFA to view the tackle on Giggs beforehand, as well as other incidents in the match.”

Russia have also not escaped UEFA’s disciplinary chiefs and have been charged over the use of firecrackers and flares during the first leg.