Former Wales boss Ryan Giggs has spoken candidly about the devastation of not being able to lead his team at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. Giggs stepped back from his managerial duties following his arrest on suspicion of assault and using controlling or coercive behaviour, culminating in his resignation during the year of the World Cup.
Giggs had entered a plea of not guilty to charges of controlling or coercive behaviour over a three-year span with his ex-girlfriend, Kate Greville, and also refuted claims of assaulting Ms Greville and her sister, Emma, during an altercation at his residence in Worsley, Greater Manchester on November 1, 2020.
The 51-year-old was set for a second trial in July 2023 after a previous trial ended without a unanimous jury decision. However, just days before the scheduled retrial, the prosecution decided to drop their case.
Under Giggs' leadership, Wales qualified for Euro 2020, but he was absent by the time the tournament kicked off, with Wales making it to the last 16 only to be ousted by Denmark. Rob Page took the reins as interim manager for the summer 2021 event and continued to lead the team through a World Cup journey that concluded with a group stage departure in Qatar.
"Yeah, I mean, it was heartbreaking," Giggs revealed while on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, sponsored by Qatar Airways. "It was obviously a very difficult time because I'm watching it on TV.
"And I'm like...who did we score against? We scored against, I can't remember if it was Turkey. And we scored late on, and I'm jumping around the front room, and then all of a sudden, I look at the TV, and it's all the staff and players jumping in the dugout, and I'm gone. Sat down and gone."
The match against Turkey saw Connor Roberts netting a last-minute goal to secure a 2-0 win for Wales. Despite finishing second in their group with four points, Wales only managed to gain one point at the following year's World Cup, ending up at the bottom of a group that included England, Iran and the United States.
When Ferdinand asked Giggs if he felt it was a "should have been me" situation, Giggs admitted: "Yeah, a bit of that,. So, it was a bit, yeah, it was a difficult time."
Giggs also expressed his ambition to nurture a new generation of players during his tenure. Under Chris Coleman, Wales made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 but failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after a heartbreaking loss to Ireland in what turned out to be Coleman's final competitive match as manager.
"I recognised that brilliant players-you know, Chris Gunter, Ashley Williams, Sam Vokes-you know, just players who had done so much for their country and had been... they were just coming towards the end," Giggs explained. "And the way that I wanted to play as well, I had to bring young, and I knew that there were young players coming through.
"I knew there was, you know, the Dan James, Brooks, the Harry Wilsons, Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon-all these players, I knew they were coming through. So I was prepared to sort of gamble with these players. And not the nice, very nice, job of sort of phasing out."
