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Gareth Bale: Wales will defeat England if they meet at Euro 2016

Gareth Bale is hoping Wales are pitted against England in Saturday's Euro 2016 draw and is confident his nation can beat the Three Lions.

Bale, 26, will be at next summer's European Championship after helping Wales qualify for their first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup.

With Chris Coleman's side in Pot 4 for Saturday's draw and England in Pot 1, there is a real possibility that the two neighbours could face each other in France -- a prospect that excites the Real Madrid man.

"If we came out of the draw with England, we'd be happy," Bale is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "Why not? We think we can beat England -- and all the pressure would be on them. But we will try to do our best whoever we play.

"There will be no pressure on us. We are going to go there to enjoy the occasion and to try to do our country proud. That's all we can do -- and that's all our supporters can ask for."

While Wales have gone over 57 years since last playing in a major tournament, Bale was always confident the current squad had the ability to achieve something special.

"I looked at history and it obviously wasn't good for Wales as far as qualifying for major tournaments was concerned," Bale said. "But I always had this belief that during my time with Wales we would get there one day.

"Now we've actually done it, and it's a massive achievement because it happens so rarely. We're all very proud. I'd like to think we have all set a standard of turning up whenever we can and that has been the catalyst for the team spirit.

"Everybody is there -- and everybody wants to be there. That's very important. By turning up for every game, your team spirit and the connections you have on the pitch get better. It is a big reason why we've qualified."

Bale added: "We got on a good run and it was like a snowball effect because confidence grew and we got more belief as the team came together. The nation really got behind us and we just took it on.

"We didn't think about it, we just took each game as it came, and we felt we could beat any team that was put in our way. Once you get on a crest of a wave, you keep riding it until you fall off.

"We haven't thought about how far we can go, to be honest. Of course we can dream, like Greece and Denmark once did [winning Euro 2004 and Euro '92 respectively].

"We're not just going to go there just to play. We will go there with the mentality that we had during qualifying -- to try to win every game. We'll see where that takes us."