Ryan Giggs: Wales manager more nervous than ever ahead of China Cup opener

Gareth Bale has joined up with the Wales squad for the China Cup ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final against Juventus

Ryan Giggs says he will be more nervous taking charge of his first Wales game than he ever was as a player.

Appointed in January, the former Wales and Manchester United captain begins his managerial reign against China on Thursday in the China Cup.

Despite his huge success as a club player, Giggs has said becoming Wales boss was the "proudest moment" of his life.

"I'll be much more nervous tomorrow," said the 44-year-old.

"As a player you want a little bit of nerves but generally speaking I never really got nervous.

"Coaching and management is completely different. As a player you're quite selfish and you're just making sure you're doing your job in the team.

"As a manager and a coach there are so many things to think about , you are constantly going through your mind.

"There are lots of things going around in my head, it is completely different from being a player."

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Thursday's match against China - the opening fixture of the China Cup friendly tournament - will be Giggs' first as a permanent manager.

The 44-year-old had four games in charge of Manchester United as interim boss in 2014, before working as an assistant to Louis van Gaal for two seasons.

Now he is a fully-fledged manager in his own right, Giggs inherits a Wales side looking to recover from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup.

This generation of players is still the most successful in Wales' history, having reached a first semi-final at a major tournament at Euro 2016.

Ryan Giggs saw off competition from Craig Bellamy, Mark Bowen and Osian Roberts to become Wales manager

Giggs' long-term aim will be to guide them to the next European Championship in 2020 but, for now, his focus is on his first game against China.

"First and foremost I am proud. Proud to be the Welsh manager, proud to be coaching this group of players," he added. "Excited as well, excited for the game tomorrow.

"I have been in the job now over two months and this is why I took the job for the football and so I have been doing various stuff building up to the game, preparing the script as best as I can.

"But yesterday was fantastic, getting on the pitch, coaching, watching the lads train, meeting over the last couple of days, trying to get my message across as quickly as possible, and also trying to simplify it as best I can because we have not got a lot of time to work.

"So a lot of things are going through my head at the moment, but probably; proud, excited, and really looking forward to the game tomorrow are the over-riding emotions that I am feeling at the moment."