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A Welsh fairytale on English misery
TOULOUSE: Wales enjoyed their greatest day in football for more than half a century by overwhelming Russia 3-0 on Monday to win Group B at Euro 2016 ahead of their
TOULOUSE: Wales enjoyed their greatest day in football for more than half a century by overwhelming Russia 3-0 on Monday to win Group B at Euro 2016 ahead of their oldest rivals England.
It was an outcome that had seemed unlikely when England beat them 2-1 last on Thursday, and the thousands of Welsh supporters could have been forgiven for a feeling of disbelief as they celebrated every touch of the ball with “oles” before finally feeling free to chant “we are top of the league”.
They will play a third-placed team in Paris on Saturday while England face the Group F runners-up and Wales will go into the knockout stage with realistic hopes of reaching the last eight.
“It was never about beating England, it was about qualifying,” Wales manager Chris Coleman told reporters, adding that he had never seen a better performance from a Welsh team.
In what had been described as the country’s biggest game since the 1958 World Cup quarter-final, they rediscovered the attacking brio that enabled them to beat Slovakia in the opening game.
Gareth Bale, the scorer of a direct free kick in each of the two previous games to equal a European Championship record, was close with several fine efforts before becoming the first player since Milan Baros in 2004 to score in three successive games at the European finals.
“I’ve never seen a better performance from any Wales team than I saw tonight,” said Coleman. “As a nation geographically we are small but if you judge us by passion you could say we were a continent tonight.”
Wales went ahead as soon as the 11th minute when Aaron Ramsey beat the offside trap and deftly chipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
Neil Taylor doubled the score nine minutes later after another swift move that owed much to the dribbling skills of the team’s star player, Bale. With the Russia defenders focusing so much on the Real Madrid player, Taylor had the time and presence to slot in a rebound after his first effort was blocked by Akinfeev.
Bale, who last month won the Champions League with Real Madrid for the second time in three years, made it 3-0 in the 67th minute with a deft finish from a Ramsey pass. He is now the tournament’s top scorer with three goals.
“It’s probably the best performance I’ve been involved in with Wales,” Bale said.
