That’s about it for tonight’s live blog. Thanks for your company throughout the game; it was far too manic for emails in the second half so I’ll try to catch up with the emails now. Congratulations to Portugal, who now have the chance to win their first major trophy. Well done to Wales, who had already had so much credit in the bank that tonight’s defeat has barely made a dent. For the players, the coaching staff and the entire country, Euro 2016 has been the time of their lives. And that bit where they celebrated England going out was brilliant.
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Here’s David Hytner’s match report from Lyon
Here’s Gareth Bale “We’re massively disappointed but we’ve got to be proud of ourselves. We’ve given everything. We tried to enjoy the experience. We want to thank the fans, who have been incredible. We tried our hardest and we’re sorry we couldn’t get to the final. They shut up shop quite well. We have no regrets. We have to be proud of what we’ve achieved.”
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“Honestly, I have no idea how to feel,” says Matt Dony, who has drunk so much that his whole body is numb. “Wales have no right to be in the semi finals, and this is an absolute triumph, no matter what. And yet. And yet. Portugal seem so damn beatable! I think this is going to hurt like hell tomorrow (and not just in a fuzzy-head kind of way), but I’ll look back with a smile in the future.”
Yes, I know what you mean. You’d almost prefer an unarguable 4-0 shellacking; there will always be a slight ‘what if’ with this game. But really, when the dust settles and your hangover clears next Tuesday, you’ll accentuate the million positives from the last month.
Wales did not do a lot wrong in that game, but they missed Aaron Ramsey and they were powerless to stop the best player in the world changing everything with a brilliant goal just after half-time. Ronaldo and Bale have a long chat at the final whistle, before embracing and going their separate ways.
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Full time: Portugal 2-0 Wales
Portugal go into Sunday’s final, their first in a major tournament on foreign soil.
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90+2 min Joe Allen, on a yellow, clatters a Portuguese player 25 yards from goal. A jobsworth would have sent him off; this referee showed his human side.
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90+1 min There will be three minutes of added time.
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90 min Gareth Bale, Cerys Matthews, Neil Kinnock, Richard Burton, Tom Jones, Clayton Blackmore, Maggot ... your boys took some beating. They achieved more than Spain, Englad, Italy and others in this tournament. They have done the country incredibly proud in the last four weeks, and achieved something even more precious than victory: glory. Tonight is sad and frustrating but it doesn’t compromise their achievement in the slightest.
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89 min Bale is booked for a very high foot on Cedric. It was overzealous rather than nasty. I reckon he would have been sent off for that six months ago - it was quite like Nani in that Real Madrid game in 2012-13 - but a yellow card is more appropriate I think.
87 min Portugal bring on their lucky charm, the geriatrico Ricardo Quaresma, to replace Nani.
86 min This is Wales’ best spell of the game in terms of sustained possession, though of course that is dictated by the match context. And it also leaves them vulnerable to a counter-attack like this: Gomes on the left finds Ronaldo, who rounds Hennessey but takes it too wide in doing so and can only crunch it into the side netting.
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85 min I don’t think Wales have, in the parlance of our time, left anything out there. But they will forever wonder how the game might have panned out had the second goal not come so soon after the first. One minute they were 0-0 and comfortable; the next they were 2-0 and in the malodorous stuff.
83 min Bale is fouled by Joao Mario 35 yards from goal. He tried to stay on his feet, but he won’t say no to this free-kick. This might be Wales’ last chance of getting back into it ... but Bale whacks it into the wall. Bale picks up the rebound and is flattened by Nani. The referee waves play on.
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82 min Jonny Williams, who has again made a difference from the bench, puts in a good cross that is half cleared to Ashley Williams. His shot from the edge of the box hits his own man, Vokes, though I’m not certain it was on target.
80 min A ridiculous swerving effort from Bale, who must have been nearly 40 yards out, is palmed away by the diving Rui Patricio. That ball misbehaved viciously.
80 min “So,” says Niall Mullen, “Aaron Ramsey is the Dude’s rug of this Welsh team.” Well that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
79 min Another Portugal change: Joao Moutinho replaces Adrien Silva.
78 min Hennessey keeps Wales in the competition, just about. Danilo stole the ball 30 yards from goal and marched into the area before hitting a shot that burst through Hennessey, who was able to get back and jump on the ball just as Nani was about to turn it in from 0.00002 yards.
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77 min When the ball bounces nicely for him, Bale cuts across a long-distance swoosher that is again too close to Rui Patricio and comfortably held. It was sweetly stuck mind. Bale had that exhilarating five minutes in the first half, when he looked like he was starting to bend the game to his will, but since then it hasn’t quite happened for him.
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75 min “It won’t be the first time an indiscretion in one game has had a profound effect on the next,” says Charles Antaki. “But that Ramsay handball has flattened Wales into a depthless two-dimensional side, coming up short against a side who are no world-beaters. A shame.”
And yet, they were comfortable until the world’s best player did something spectacular. I agree though, they have missed him badly Was his handball deliberate or not? I couldn’t really decide. It seemed like a reflex that he then tried to stop but couldn’t.
73 min Renato Sanches leads a Portugal break before crashing a shot high over the bar from the edge of the box. Like Salvatore Bonpensiero, he had options. It’s his last touch of the game, with Andre Gomes replacing him. Renato Sanches has been excellent.
72 min Ronaldo picks on someone his own size, shoving Jonny Williams over. He’s booked. Bale’s inswinger is headed over by Chester, who was under considerable pressure. It was a quarter-chance at best.
70 min Wales, who looked in control defensively in the first half, have been ragged since the goals. You can understand why; nothing they have experienced in their thousands of professional games can prepare them for such a blow. At the moment they look out of it, though a goal would change everything. A goal for Wales, anyway: Fonte almost makes it 3-0 with a header from a corner that is well held by Hennessey. Bruno Alves is then booked for blocking Hennessey’s kick-out.
68 min “A friend has just text me the word ‘Istanbul’. I’m feeling more positive suddenly.”
67 min “In what may be Wales’ last game, can we have a word of praise for Joe Allen?” says Hubert O’Hearn. “Whoever first described him as ‘the Welsh Xavi’ did him no favours. But he is an outstanding midfielder who rarely makes the wrong pass and always keeps his head. Why Liverpool are looking to sell him is one of many thousands of things I don’t understand.”
66 min Wales’ final change: Jonny Williams on, James Collins off. Collins did excellently in the circumstances. Wales have plenty of attackers on now. Bale puts in a decent cross from a narrow position to Vokes, who mistimes his header well over the bar from 15 yards. It was a tricky chance because of the angle of the cross.
65 min A four-year campaign looks like it has come down to three minutes. Wales still look a little shell-shocked, and it was almost 3-0. Nani’s deflected long-range shot is spilled by Chester, and Joao Mario whistles the rebound wide. He should have scored.
64 min “Hello Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I popped the Welsh liveblog into Google Translate, and it’s an excellent read. Elena Cresci’s half-time summary seems very accurate: “No caps lock today friends. From what I saw, a lot of kicking, a lot of saving. But I get more beer so I’m happy.” Speaking of caps lock, when Cymru is written in all upper case, Google translates it as “ENGLAND”. That’s just too wrong.”
I knew England would it. Arise Uncle Roy.
63 min The resulting free-kick is 25 yards out, a fair way to the right of centre, and Ronaldo wobbles a brilliant effort onto the roof of the net as Hennessey leaps desperately to his left. Before play resumes, Simon Church replaces Hal Robson-Kanu up front for Wales.
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62 min Bale’s excellent driven pass is controlled nicely on the chest by Vokes, but Alves gets round to shin the ball clear. Portugal break and Chester is booked for a foul on Ronaldo. Bale won the first half; Ronaldo is romping the second.
60 min Wales are rattled, as you would expect after such a shocking and almost unforseeable twist. I don’t think Hennessey has made a save in the match, so you couldn’t say it was coming.
59 min “Did someone,” says Kelvn, “say the Portuguese Crouch?”
That ball for the goal was about eight feet in the air. Crouch would have scored with a scissor-kick.
58 min Chris Coleman is going for it. Joe Ledley is replaced by Sam Vokes, so Wales will switch to a 3-4-1-2.
57 min We haven’t seen a replay of the incident that led to the corner for the first goal, though Gunter in particular was certain there was a foul on a Wales defender. Then the athletic genius of Ronaldo kicked in; whatever you think of him, it was a stunning goal.
56 min Wales need to stay calm for a few minutes and make sure they aren’t completely out of this game in the next 10 minutes. If they keep it at 2-0 they can get Jonny Williams on, try to make it 2-1 by the 80th minute. Then human nature kicks in and anything can happen.
If the first goal was majestic, this is exasperatingly scruffy from a Wales point of view. Ronaldo, 25 yards from goal to the right of centre, mishit a low cross-shot that fell perfectly for Nani, who stretched to slide it past Hennessey from close-range.
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GOAL! Portugal 2-0 Wales (Nani 53)
It’s all going horribly wrong for Wales.
52 min Warm congratulations to Martin Bell, who has just been appointed as the new sports editor of the Guardian. “Maybe,” writes Martin, “you could concentrate on reporting the game?”
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Portugal won a corner on the left, though Wales thought there was a foul that should have gone their way. It was played short to Guerreiro, who curved a delicious first-time ball to the far post. Ronaldo rose majestically eight yards from goal, muscling Chester aside, and thumped a header high into the net. Hennessey had no chance. Ronaldo hung in the air for an age. It was similar in nature to his memorable goal at Roma in the Champions League in 2007-08; in context, it might be even better. It was simply immense.
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GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Wales (Ronaldo 50)
Cristiano Ronaldo scores an awesome header to give Portugal the lead.
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49 min Allen is penalsed, perhaps harshly, for a foul on Adrien Silva. That said, he got away with a clearer foul a few seconds earlier when Adrien stayed on his feet. Had he gone down, that might even have been a second yellow for Allen, though probably not in the current climate. He does need to be careful though.
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49 min “You can relax now,” says Pol Curley. “Final score. Offaly 1-10 Dublin 2-15 Dublin are Leinster U21 Leinster Champions.”
48 min Chester plays another excellent ball down the left to Bale, who is one-on-one with Alves but overruns the ball. Chester has arguably been the best player on the pitch so far.
47 min “A hurling liveblog seems appropriate,” says Ian Copestake, “given the gut reaction I get whenever Ronny shows his faces.”
46 min Bing bong! Portugal begin the second half, kicking from left to right. There are going to be tears in the next hour or two; hopefully Welsh tears of joy.
“Stepping back and trying to be rational, I’m happy so far,” says Matt Dony. “I’m willing the Pembrokeshire Pirlo to be the match winner. I’m going for 2-1 Wales, all goals in the last 20, Allen scoring the winner. That definitely can’t come back and bite me on the bum...”
And then a couple of minutes later: “Hi, Scott Martin. I’m fidgeting and drinking and squirming and whimpering and shouting. The last 45 minutes took about a fortnight off my life expectancy.”
“Hi Rob,” says Scott Martin. “Any chance of a half-time Matt Dony update? Just want to make sure he hasn’t nodded off.”
“In regards to Prateek Chadha’s email, Portugal have been playing like this for quite a while, one of the reasons why Ronaldo underperforms so much for Portugal,” says Filipe Gomes. “It is quite frustrating as a Portugal fan but we have failed to produce a killer striker for a while. I would think we could have taken at least one real striker to the Euros, but sadly Santos decided to take Éder...”
What is it with Portugal and centre-forwards? I wonder how much they might have won in the last 20 years if they had a (Brazilian) Ronaldo, or even a Klose.
Half-time viewing
“Immense sigh of relief as Murray wins,” says Jennifer Thorp, “and the UK can switch to one match rather than juggling two live text feeds at once.”
Erm, the hurling?
Half-time reading
Half-time chit-chat “I know we shouldn’t harp on about Ramsay’s absence,” says Charles Antaki, “but there is a hole in front of Joe Allen which he is quite properly shy of risking going into, and Andy King seems to be managing somehow to avoid appearing in. Bale can’t be everywhere, try as he might.”
Yes, that booking is so frustrating because he has played beautifully. I think King was the sensible, safe option, with Jonny Williams to come on if they want/need to chase a goal.
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Half time: Portugal 0-0 Wales
It’s tight, it’s tense, but Wales have been Portugal’s equals and will be happy enough. See you in 10 minutes!
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44 min The first big chance for Ronaldo! Adrien Silva came infield from the left and swung a cross towards the far post, where Ronaldo had isolated Chester. He looked offside, but there was no flag and Ronaldo leapt to head over from eight yards. That was a pretty good chance for somebody so good in the air.
42 min Ronaldo’s fierce long-range shot deflects behind off Collins. They are having quite a duel. Williams defends the corner very well at the far post, and the ball loops up for Hennessey to clam comfortably.
39 min “Santos seems to be playing without a centre forward or even a false nine,” says Prateek Chadha. “Nani and Ronaldo are the highest players on the pitch and seem to have been asked to drift into the eighteen yard box. Does anyone recall a similar formation?”
Only on the Amiga. You’re right though, it’s odd. Have a look at the average positions for Portugal in their quarter-final. It looks like one of those caterpillars in R-Type.
38 min Renato Sanches has probably had more touches than anyone in this half. His maturity is so impressive, almost Rashfordian.
36 min I suspect Wales will be really pleased with how it has gone so far. You could eat your dinner of Wayne Hennessey’s gloves, and Bale is influencing the general play more than against England, Northern Ireland and Belgium (I didn’tt see the other games).
35 min “There’s more MBMs going on right now than there are empty pint glasses on Matt Dony’s table,” says Alex Barrett. “Be sure to keep your A game coming Rob or I may have to switch over to Matt’s live Periscope feed where I hear he’s moving on from pints to bierstiefels in prep for tomorrow’s game.”
34 min With apologies to Matt Dony’s liver, this game might be going the distance. It’s very tight.
32 min “Out of curiosity I flicked over to your colleague Elena Cresci’s Welsh-language MBM feed,” says Robert Nease. “The very first thing I saw was ‘Munud 22: Blydi hell’.”
Pêl-droed? Blydi hell.
31 min When Ronaldo scores a hat-trick, Bryan Tisinger’s email address will be available for a small fee. “Has Ronaldo turned into a glorified Peter Crouch” writes Brian. “All he does for Portugal is run into the box, put his arm up, and demand his teammates cross the ball to him, even if he has zero chance to get a head to it. I have watched almost all of Portugal’s matches and all they do is send hopeless crosses into the box. Portugal is the old Stoke! I guess that is one reason they haven’t won a game in normal time in forever.”
I agree with you, at least up to a point. He’s playing too central and too often with his back to goal.
30 min The right-back Cedric has caused Wales a few problems. This may have inflated his sense of self-worth a touch, because he has just blootered one into orbit from about 40 yards. Even Arie Haan would have thought twice about shooting from there.
28 min Joao Mario stabs a pass into Nani, and the last man Chester intercepts. He has quietly had a superb tournament.
26 min Taylor is mugged by Cedric, who swings a deep cross into the box. Ronaldo leaps preposterously high but still can’t get there and Hennessey claims it behind him.
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25 min Wales are having a superb spell. Robson-Kanu turns away from Alves on the right and clips a cross towards King at the near post. The flying Fonte gets there first and heads it behind for another Wales corner. Ledley swings it deep and Bruno Alves heads clear.
23 min Bale skins Danilo thrillingly inside his own half to launch a three-on-three break. He gallops infield from the right to within 25 yards of goal before hitting a firm shot that is too close to Rui Patricio and comfortably held. He looks really lively now.
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21 min Bale has come into the game now. He charges down the right, brushing aside Ronaldo, and hits a dangerous low cross that evades the sliding King and is well claimed by the sprawling keeper Rui Patricio.
20 min Ronaldo is penalised for sending Collins flying. After that earlier incident, the identity of the victim probably isn’t a coincidence.
19 min An excellent stabbed pass down the left from Chester finds Bale, who runs the ageing Alves and wins a corner. The super furry animal Ledley will take it. It’s a clever one, dragged back towards the edge of the box for Bale, who runs from far to near post and then whacks it over the bar. He couldn’t quite get round the ball but it was nicely worked nonetheless.
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18 min Bale has been quiet so far, although, as Ryan Giggs shrewdly observed before the Belgium game, he doesn’t have to play well to win a match.
16 min Joao Mario plays a nice one-two with Ronaldo, who is dumped over by Chester as he plays the return pass. Joao Mario continues into the box and then drags a low cross-shot a few yards wide of the far post.
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15 min “Feeling conflicted,” says Pól Curley. “Dublin are playing Offaly in the Leinster Hurling now. I have to flit between the two games.” Luckily for you we’ve got an MBM of the hurling here.
14 min Renato Sanches, who could be one to watch in the future, has been bright and breezy in possession so far. Nothing much is happening, in truth, but the occasion is such that even the dull stuff is crackling with tension.
13 min “I think we all - not just Matt Dony - should have to down a pint every time Ronaldo pulls a face,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “There’s been two already. Drink!”
11 min Portugal have certainly been the better side so far. Wales are feeling their way into the game, which is fair enough, what with it being the biggest game of their life and all.
10 min A very dangerous right-wing cross from Cedric towards Ronaldo is headed clear by Collins. At first it looked like great defending, just a few yards from his own goal; replays showed he had his arm round Ronaldo’s neck, which in some cultures might be construed as a risk. He got away with it though.
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7 min Hal Robson-Cruyffenbauer brings a roar from the Wales fans with a lovely dragback. Moments later, Allen loses the ball to Nani and then fouls him. He’s booked, which is fair enough as it’s his second foul and Nani was in a promising position. The yellow cards were wiped after the quarter-final, so you have to be sent off to miss the final. Or lose the game I suppose.
6 min “Yup,” says Matt ‘Two Pints’ Dony. “Of Penderyn!” Never mind a Welsh-language MBM, we need an MBM of Matt Dony watching the match as well.
5 min Portugal have had more of the ball so far, though it has mostly been harmless passing in front of Wales.
4 min “That Welsh anthem is something, isn’t it,” says Robin Hazlehurst. “Hopefully Wales will get France in the next round so that the footy fans can get to enjoy what rugby fans are treated to every year in the Six Nations - an anthem-off between France and Wales before a big match.”
3 min Ronaldo charges at the Wales defence and is taken down by Williams 20 yards from goal. Did he get the ball? The referee thinks so. And replays show he’s right; that was an excellent challenge.
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3 min Both these teams like playing on the break, so it could be a fairly cagey start. There are unconfirmed rumours coming in that Matt Dony has already downed two pints since kick-off.
2 min “So with Murray on one live blog tab and Wales on the other, I think I can lay claim to still being British, even in these troubled times (and living in New York…),” says Rachel Clifton. He’s still playing? That doesn’t sound good.
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1 min Peep peep! Wales kick off from left to right. Both teams are in their away strips: black for Wales, green for Portugal.
“Argh!” says Matt Dony. “And I thought Liverpool’s oh-so-close non-title run-in was nerve-racking! This is tense, and amazing, and terrifying, and beautiful all at once. (Much like my wife, who is hopefully not reading this!) Come on, David Hopkins, we’ll let you in. All together, #Hal, Robson, Kanuuuuuu!”
The players emerge from the tunnel for a European Championship semi-final between Wales and Portugal!
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BONG BONG BING, BONG BONG BONG
Chris Coleman pre-match interview “The players are confident, they’re excited. We can’t wait for the game. We heard the rumours that there was a problem with Pepe, but they’re a good team so they’ll have replacements. I’ve told the players to believe in themselves, and go for it.
“We can’t come off with any regrets. It’s an old saying but it’s true: give it everything you’ve got. If that’s not enough, you shake hands with the opposition and that’s it. But if we bring it - and we can - we’ve got a real good chance.”
“Hi Rob,” says Richard Maughan. “Before the game starts, do you have any recommendations for TV series I should watch? There’s got to be something better than Game of Thrones out there. Oh yeah, the football. I’d love Wales to do it but think Ramsey will be too big a loss. 1-0 Portugal.”
I need some suggestions myself. If you haven’t seen The Shield and Oz, they are wonderful. If you haven’t seen The Sopranos, you have made a monumental error of judgement that you begin to rectify this instant. The best newish series I’ve seen is The Jinx, which, like this Wales story, shows that truth will always be stranger than fiction.
On a night like this, it’s hard not to think about Gary Speed. He did so much for this team in his time as manager - as did his predecessor John Toshack, who gave debuts to most of this XI, many as teenagers, and the Under-21 manager Brian Flynn. Tonight is for them, and all those players who never made it to a major tournament: Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, Neville Southall, Dean Saunders and Paul Bodin.
“I’d like to claim spurious Welsh heritage if I may?” says David Hopkins. “Closing in on 50 Manics gigs, including their first performance of their retro footy anthem in Swansea? Oh yes, tonight I am Harry Secombe.”
We’re also liveblogging the match in Welsh. Elena Cresci is covering the game while on holiday, in a Portuguese bar that’s owned by a Welshman. We asked Maggot to do it but he said, ‘time to dash!’
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Laugh/cry dilemma
In the last nine months, England have beaten all four of the semi-finalists.
As much as I love you all both, dear readers, I wish I was watching the game with these clarts
YOU KNOWS IT pic.twitter.com/T1i0vlDEXW
— goldie lookin chain (@theGLC) July 1, 2016
ITV have got a magnificent panel for the night: Lee Dixon, Craig Bellamy, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane. All that’s missing is Slaven Bilic and Neville Southall.
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The first email of the night comes from the Dhaka fan club “I studied in Cardiff University and know exactly how crazy/passionate Welsh people can be about sport!” writes Sabbir Azam. “Now living far from the UK, I can imagine how noisy it is there. Feeling euphoric and have goosebumps. Go Wales! You can do it!”
The teams
Portugal (4-1-3-2) Rui Patricio; Cedric, Bruno Alves, Fonte, Guerreiro; Danilo; Joao Mario, Renato Sanches, Adrien Silva; Nani, Ronaldo.
Wales (3-5-1-1) Hennessey; Chester, Williams, Collins; Gunter, Allen, Ledley, King; Taylor; Bale; Robson-Kanu.
Referee Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Wales have brought in James Collins and Andy King for the suspended Ben Davies and Aaron Ramsey, so Jazz Richards is spared trial by Ronaldo.
Here’s a message: give us the bloody team news!
ONE HOUR...#PORWAL #EURO2016 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/XRDS6U1qpm
— Wales (@FAWales) July 6, 2016
Pepe is not fit to start for Portugal, which has to be good news both for Wales and Gary Lineker’s sanity.
All eyes on two special players in Lyon tonight. Which galactico will come out on top? #PORWAL #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/UZARJPCWmB
— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) July 6, 2016
Pre-match entertainment
And if you like David Squires, this link contains some very good news.
Come on, sing along, don’t say you don’t know the words
The word on the Lyon street is that Wales will replace Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies with Andy King and Jazz Richards, and Chris Gunter will move to centre-back. If so, we’ll find out whether Jazz is all that: he’ll be up against Cristiano Ronaldo.
The other options are James Collins at centre-back and Jonny Williams, who was excellent as substitute against Northern Ireland, in the Ramsey role. I think I’d play Collins and King, but I am not an international football manager.
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Good evening. Do you struggle to concentrate at work? Have you found yourself craving a drink since lunchtime? Did you do precisely bugger all in the office today? Are you too restless to function? If so, the diagnosis is positive: you are demonstrating all the symptoms of being Welsh.
In Lyon tonight, Wales play Portugal for – and I can’t believe I’m typing this – a place in the final of the European Championship. No British has side has ever reached the final of a major tournament overseas. This amazing story reminds us that, when it comes to imagination, fiction has got nothing on truth.
Portugal are tough opponents; of course they are, especially as Wales are without the suspended Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies. But it could be worse. It’s far too long-winded to explain how, but Wales could easily be Spain or Germany tonight. Portugal have only won one match at Euro 2016, and that was because four of Croatia’s players died of boredom halfway through extra-time.
And the bad news? Cristiano Ronaldo, who is never more purposeful than when the scent of glory wafts up his nostrils, is two games away from sticking two fingers up at convicted fraud Lionel Messi and then the world.
Portugal have very quietly been the nearly men of the European Championship. They are the only side to reach every quarter-final since 1996 but have never won the tournament, or any tournament. Those who believe that improvised contests between 22 men are dictated by mathematical patterns will note that, since 1996, Portugal’s record in this tournament reads QF, SF, beaten finalist, QF, SF in 2012, and now with a chance to go to the final again.
Yet while Portugal are favourites, the task feels far from impossible for Wales. That’s a reflection of their progress and particularly that stunning performance against Belgium on Friday. If they lose, so be it. Like Iceland, they’re already won.
Usually you don’t recognise the time of your life until it’s gone, yet Wales’ players and fans have embraced this tournament as if they knew from the start that something magical was going to happen. They haven’t just lived the dream; they’ve lived the dream – with the fans, their kids, the nation, even the press.
There will be plenty of the old banter from English people about their Welsh roots, how they once bought a Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci tape and can recite Howard Marks’ Spliff Politics scene from Human Traffic. The widespread goodwill is nice but those of us who aren’t Welsh can’t truly understand what tonight means. We just don’t have the symptoms.
Kick off is at 8pm in Wales, 9pm in Lille.
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