I have in a previous blog berated my beloved England team for failing so predictably in yet another tournament. On the other hand Wales, appearing in a their first major tournament since 1958, stormed to the Semi-Finals; topping their group in the first round of matches. So why did Wales succeed where England failed? Let's look at the evidence...
Chris Coleman was an excellent leader on and off the pitch. Although the Euro campaign was a huge emotional assignment for him and the nation, his approach was uncomplicated, his players showed great discipline and the supporters were fabulous. Wales have always had excellent players but rarely had elite ones; Ryan Giggs was in that category but his commitment to International Football rarely matched the desire of his superlative Manchester United contributions; and as a result Wales were becoming a habitual nearly team. Gareth Bale, on the other hand, is brilliant, oozes fire and brimstone and more pertinently regularly stepped up to deliver game-changing performances in the qualifying games. His contribution has created an atmosphere of belief in the Welsh team and despite the blip against England on June 16th, the reaction to despatch Russia so ruthlessly was a real statement of their intentions to progress. Achieving a Semi-Final place by beating Belgium was no surprise, after all their star man whilst Eden Hazard had a patchy season at Chelsea last season, Bale won the Champions League and was no bit-part player. The surprise, was the nature of the execution with three brilliant goals that had me rising out of my seat with elation. Wales were sensational!
Despite the pockets of hooliganism in France, I enjoyed the way supporters of each nation arrived in healthy numbers and heartily cheered on their teams. Although the Welsh supporters were outnumbered by their Belgian counterparts, in THAT Quarter Final, they were never going to be out-sung!! After Ashley Williams equalised, the choir struck up and probably mesmerized not just the opposition fans but the players on the pitch!! There are very few more pleasing sounds on the ears than a Welsh choir; maybe those mischievous Russians ultras were disarmed by the beautiful lyrical phrasing of the fans. It's worth noting that there was no more trouble from them following that match!
Much has been made following my last blog about the number of foreigners 'invading' our Premier League and suppressing English talent. The entire Welsh squad was drawn from the same Premier AND Football League of the English players, but they succeeded and England failed. As I mentioned in that Blog, the Premier League is very strong from top to bottom and I actually expect greater success in the next European clubs' campaign from British teams. Chris Coleman achieved because of his leadership, team dynamics, belief and critically the presence of a world class match winner. In the defining Semi-Final, Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance was the heart-breaking difference; sometimes you have to celebrate special players and his top drawer contribution was the only thing that could kill off Wales. In the same way Antoine Griezmann despatched the Germans in the other semi-final. On another night that might have been Bale's moment and then the trophy would have been lifted by Ashley Williams.
History one day will put this achievement into context for future generations to marvel. Congratulations Wales for making the summer of 2016 so inspiring for their nation, and the rest of us.
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