You have to say that Gareth Bale was right. They really have “done their country proud”. Unlike, er, England.
I am neither Welsh nor Portuguese so I had no feelings either way as I watched the game on Dutch TV, although I have to say that even though I didn’t follow all the commentary, it was a damn sight better than ITV. But while I had no emotional attachment to either team, there were elements of schadenfreude towards Portugal. The brilliant, preening and posturing of Christiano Ronaldo makes me gasp with disbelief and curse with frustration in almost equal measure. I’d have liked him to have been on the losing side, if I am honest. It never looked like happening though.
What is it that made Wales one of the top four teams in Europe? In terms of players, they shouldn’t be in the top four. Bale is of course world class, meaning that they have at least one more world class player than England, but they also have players with extremely modest backgrounds. Many of the Welsh players aren’t even Welsh but that sometimes distant ancestry seemed to lift them to a different level.
A shock result never looked likely, especially in the second half when Portugal, an extremely average team in my view, controlled the game. But Wales, whose players have had longer seasons than the so called superstars of England, did not lose because they finally blew up. They lost to a better side. It was as simple as that.
I even agree with West Ham supporter (!) David Cameron who said “inspired a nation and made Britain proud” with their exploits in France. I think that’s fair. To be Welsh today must be a fabulous thing, going to work with your head held high, knowing you gave it everything. Many English folk can at least bask in the reflected glory of our neighbours if that’s what floats their boat. I’m certainly not going to urinate over their fireworks. If only we played to our so called potential. The worrying thing is that we already do.
There was an element of things sort of clicking in the Welsh set up. That is not to belittle the efforts of Chris Coleman, his staff and players, far form it, but football is not a game of perfect. The best laid plans always need a spoonful of unforeseen chemistry to make things work properly. Who, for example, could have imagined Hal Robson Kanu, a journeyman player from Acton in London, doing a Cruyff turn and scoring a brilliant goal like that? No Premier League manager did, but it worked in France.
Wales are onto something now. These things have a tendency to snowball, to get better and lead to a brighter future. Good for Wales. There. I said it.
England? We don’t deserve a mention. We were as bad, as gutless, as clueless as the Welsh were brilliant. Wales will look to the future now and we will concentrate on what we really care about, the Premier League and the Football League. We will learn nothing, Wales will learn everything. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
