Gareth Bale and Marek Hamsik carrying their nations’ hopes at Euro 2016

Ian Hawkey previews Wales v Slovakia, focusing on each team's star man.

Gareth Bale, left, and Marek Hamsik, right, will be central to their team's Euro 2016 ambitions. AFP

Euro 2016: Wales v Slovakia

June 11, kick-off 8pm (UAE), live on BeIN Max 1,2,3

Leadership can be expressed in many ways. To pick out the boss of the attacking regiment of each of Saturday’s contestants in Group B’s opening match of Euro 2016, it is probably best not to listen out for the most audible voice.

Marek Hamsik, of Slovakia, believes “that to show character you do not need to scream and shout”. Like Hamsik, Gareth Bale, of Wales, takes a principal role for his national side with a mask of reserve when faced with microphones and zoom lenses.

With these two, their importance, their exemplary status emerges when you see how their teammates look to them for inspiration. And perhaps when you imagine what they say when they go to the hair stylist. Bale, who presents himself as quiet, polite, self-deprecating even, when he talks to the media, has over his most recent season with Real Madrid taken to wearing his locks long, bunched up in a pony-tail that sometimes rises from the top of his head. Hamsik has been cultivating distinct forms of crested mohican for much of his time as the creative fulcrum of Napoli, the club he has represented with such distinction for the past nine years.

More from Euro 2016:

• Euro 2016 section: All the latest news, interviews, features, information, and much more in one place

• The National debate: France, Spain, Germany, or a new name? Debating which nation will win Euro 2016

• Group B preview: England, Russia, Slovakia, Wales

Wales and Slovakia are both tournament outsiders, both entering a first European Championship under the assumption that if they are to upset expectations, and progress beyond the last 16, it will be thanks to the galvanising, match-winning impact of the player who is their recognisable superstar, their footballer with qualities of head and shoulders – and hairstyles - above the rest of their compatriots.

It would exaggerate to say that Bale, who drove Real Madrid to a compelling chase for the Primera Liga title between February and May, and Hamsik, who inspired Napoli’s engaging tilt at the Serie A title, in which they were pacesetters for much of last season, carry their national teams.

But the statistics do not lie about their respective influence. Bale scored as many goals in a qualifying group where Wales finished second behind the top Fifa-ranked European country, Belgium, as anybody. Hamsik was joint top scorer in the qualifying pool where Slovakia finished behind only Spain, the reigning European champions.

Their countries have cherished them for the best part of a decade. At 26 years old (Bale) and 28 (Hamsik), this should be their peak time. They were prodigies in their teens, whisked away from their native countries to stronger leagues at schoolboy age, Bale to Southampton in England, Hamsik to Brescia in Italy.

They have proved themselves adaptable, ambitious and world-class at club level. Bale has just won his second Uefa Champions Leage title. So much of Napoli’s revival over the last five years is down to the vision, drive and cleverness of Hamsik.

He is coming off a fine season, too. Only Paul Pogba at Juventus, and Miralem Pjanic of Roma, provided more assists over the last Italian league campaign than Hamsik. Ask a succession of South American strikers, from Edinson Cavani to Gonzalo Higuain at Napoli and they would thank the spiky-haired Slovak more than anybody for his crafted passes and through-balls for the handsome scoring statistics they have garnered.

With Slovakia, Hamsik has not always looked up to see in front of him such accomplished finishers. Coach Jan Kozak has even used Hamsik at the centre of the attack, albeit with a roving brief, part of a counter-attacking strategy. Against Wales, Adam Nemec is likely to operate as the spearhead, looking to create space for Hamsik and Vladimir Weiss to exploit, much as Hal Robson-Kanu tends to for Wales, who know Bale is the sharpest weapon in their arsenal.

It should be noisy in Bordeaux, even if Bale and Hamsik are not. More than 20,000 Wales fans have been making their way to the French south-west, which was muggy and cloudy on Friday.

They are up against a Slovakia who celebrated their qualification for these finals, in a match away in Luxembourg so boisterously the police were summoned.

And that was just to tell the players to keep the volume down in the team hotel.

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