Coleman to step down as Wales manager after 2018 World Cup campaign

Already a Welsh hero, Chris Coleman will be going for one more round before abandoning ship.

On Friday, Coleman outlined his plans for the future, announcing that the 2018 World Cup-qualifying campaign will be his last as Wales' manager and saying that it "would not feel right" to leave the job on the heels of the Dragons' semi-final run at Euro 2016.

"I am sure this will be my last campaign, whether we qualify or not," Coleman said, according to David Hytner of the Guardian. "This will be six or seven years in the job, which is a long time. So, I think this will be my last hit at it and I will give it my best shot. I would not consider going anywhere else. I want to see this through.

"I hope the players just look at this next campaign, like they looked at this one, when the attitude was: 'It's do or die.' Each game that came our way, it was everything on that game. That's all I need them to do. I'll certainly do that. Players are different, anyway. They won't see past the next challenge or the next season. And two years in football is a long, long time."

Coleman was appointed as Wales' manager in 2012 and put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension ahead of Euro 2016, where the Dragons slayed their way to the semi-finals in historic fashion by topping Group B, defeating Northern Ireland in the Round of 16, and stunning Belgium in the quarter-finals.

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As for 2018 World Cup qualifying, Wales finds itself in Group D alongside Austria, Serbia, Ireland, Moldova, and Georgia, and will kick off its campaign on Sept. 5.