Wales produced another football masterpiece on Friday night at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, beating star-studded Belgium 3-1 to progress to the semi-final of the 2016 European Championship.
Goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes cancelled out Radja Nainggolan’s first half screamer to help the Dragons edge to the last four of any international football tournament for the first time ever.
Their semi-final clash with Portugal promises an even more entertaining encounter – especially with Real Madrid superstars, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, featuring for both sides.
Here are five unforgettable lessons from the nail-biting game.
- Wales are contenders
Well they’re in the last four, so of course they can win it. But Friday’s result confirmed, after wins over Slovakia, Russia and Northern Ireland, that Wales can take on the big guns and win.
- Team more than Bale and Ramsey
Here was a true team performance featuring heroic displays from, among others, Ashley Williams, Ben Davies, Chris Gunter, Neil Taylor and of course Hal Robson-Kanu. Gareth Bale was good but not dazzling, Aaron Ramsey was excellent, but on this night in Lille, other players stood up to the occasion.
- Never give up mentality
Wales endured a nightmare start, seemingly unprepared for the pace and skill of Belgium. Immediately Nainggolan thundered in the opener things looked ominous. But Wales didn’t panic; they kept their nerve and played their way back into the game. By the end of the game, Chris Coleman’s side were well on top.
- Fellaini gamble could end Wilmots’ Belgium reign
When you have Mousa Dembele and Dries Mertens on the bench, there really should be no reason to bring on Marouane Fellaini. But that’s what Marc Wilmots did; bringing him on for Yannick Carrasco to shore up the base of midfield. Inevitably it didn’t work – within 10 minutes Hal Robson-Kanu rode Fellaini’s crude whack of the calf and finished brilliantly.
- Belgium’s lack of depth exposed
The young pair of Jason Denayer and Jordan Lukaku came in for the injured Jan Vertonghen and suspended Thomas Vermaelen. Gareth Bale immediately set about unsettling them on the Wales right, but it was at set pieces where things went badly awry. Ashley Williams – probably Wales’s best header of the ball – snuck between Denayer and Lukaku to equalise, and did the same minutes later but couldn’t hit the target.
