Welsh actor Michael Sheen has shown every sports coach in the world how a pre-match motivational speech should be delivered.
Sheen, appearing on UK sports comedy quiz TV show A League Of Their Own, was asked by host Romesh Ranganathan what he would say if given the chance to fire-up the Welsh football side ahead of its upcoming World Cup fixture against England.
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The actor, known as a fierce Welsh patriot, proceeded to deliver an apparent off-the-cuff speech for the ages that had every member of the show‘s live audience and cast lauding and applauding him by its end.
“I have to get in the right head space now,” Sheen said before launching into the rousing speech. “OK.”
Sheen then spread his arms, palms wide open and fingers spread, and delivered a monologue to end all monologues.
“I hear the voices singing. Speed your journey, bois bach,” Sheen began, using the Welsh exclamation for “good heavens”.
“One nation, singing with one voice, a song of hope, a song of courage.
“A victory song that floats through the valleys, like a red mist, rolls over the mountain tops, like crimson thunder.
“A red storm is coming to the gates of Qatar.
“It crackles, with the spirit of ‘58 and Jimmy Murphy’s boys. It turns the pages of the history books and finds Rob’s page, waiting, still to be written,” Sheen said, referring to Wales coach Rob Page.
“What would you right in there, boys? Dare you write your names on that page? We haven’t waited 64 years and come half way around the world to be troubled by a neighbour from back home.
“When the English coming knock on our door, let‘s give them some sugar, boys, let’s give them some Welsh sugar. They’ve always said we are too small, we are too slow, we are too weak, too full of fear. But yma o hyd (‘Still here’, the title of a famous Welsh nationalistic folk song), you sons of Speed, and they fall around us.
“We are still here.”
The clip registered more than 5.5 million views on Twitter in less than 11 hours.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup begins November 20 in Qatar, with Wales placed in a group alongside England, Iran and the United States. It is only the second time in history that Wales has qualified for the tournament, the team‘s last appearance coming in 1958.
This article originally appeared on the NZ Herald and was reproduced with permission
