Watch: We go inside Cymru’s training base where Welsh history is all around

When Cymru boss Robert Page first heard Michael Sheen’s rousing speech on TV sports quiz show A League Of Their Own, he joked that he needed to take the actor to Qatar with him.

When the Port Talbot star followed this up with an even better piece of rousing oratory in front of the squad summing up the spirit of 58 and Jimmy Murphy’s boys which took his rousing words from the TV show and added even more magic, passion and fire of his own, Sheen’s speech quickly embedded themselves into the hearts and minds of the Welsh public and the Cymru squad.

So important have they become that they are now emblazoned on the walls of the state-of-the-art Cymru training camp in Doha.

Every day the players gain inspiration from the actor’s beautifully crafted words as the build up continues to the opening World Cup match with the USA on Monday evening.

Ymarfer Cymru 💪

🤩 The squad’s first session at our World Cup Training Base. #ArBenYByd | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/ULY7EfFkWJ

— Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@Cymru) November 18, 2022

However, it’s not just Sheen’s words which provide the motivation, there are signs of the nation’s rich cultural and social history everywhere you look – from images of the Miners’ Strike to Cofiwch Dryweryn, images that document the struggles of Welsh football and Wales through the decades.

Then there are those slogans and songs such as ‘Together Stronger’ ‘Gorau Chwarae Cyd Chwarae’ and ‘Yma o Hyd’ that have become synonymous with the Cymru football team alongside images of the massed ranks of the Red Wall, Cymru’s ever reliable 12th man.

Having competed at consecutive European Championships, the Football Association of Wales staff tasked with creating the perfect environment to prosper are experienced hands at the demands of tournament football.

If the Cymru training camp is any yardstick of how well the team could do in their first World Cup for 64 years, then you’d safely say they are more than prepared for a full month in the sun.