The famous 3-0 win over Russian Federation on Monday ensured Wales finished with six points from their three Group B matches and beat England to top spot.
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“I must admit that we don’t now have players of the highest level, but that’s the situation we’re in”, Mutko said, the TASS news agency reported.
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.
Bale’s goal against Russian Federation took him to joint fourth on Wales’ all-time scoring list with 22, six behind record goalscorer Ian Rush.
A 92nd minute goal in Stoppage time proved the people who handed England the group in December right, as “The Three Lions” conquered Wales at the death, and now this group was theirs. “We know how fortunate we are to have him in our team and if we can keep clean sheets then we know we give ourselves a real good chance”.
Bale completed the scoring with a smart finish in the 67 minute after Ramsey threaded the ball expertly past the defence.
There was more to come just nine minutes later as Bale again made a nuisance of himself and Roman Shirakov poked the ball into Taylor’s path.
James Chester says Wales will test anyone at Euro 2016 if they reproduce the form which swept aside Russian Federation.
Fuelled by the energy and enthusiasm of Ramsey, Wales cut through nearly at will as Russia’s ageing defence creaked time and again.
It was the first worldwide goal from a player who last scored at club level six years ago. At half-time Leonid Slutski tried swapping the Berezutski twins – having an unhappy 34th birthday – as Aleksei replaced Vasili.
While Wales was on cruise control, England was back to its stuttering old self, drawing 0-0 with Slovakia despite dominating possession.
“Without getting carried away, let’s try and get to the semi-finals”.
Wales manager Chris Coleman said he was delighted with his side’s win and said more was to come. All the latests news, plus group guides, kick-off times and news from around the teams can be found at our special microsite. The Group set them up perfectly for that and it was going to be manager Roy Hodgson playing the meticulous mastermind to lead them back to the top of Europe.
“In our lifetime, it was the best performance from a Wales team”, said Saunders. Popped up everywhere on the pitch to great effect, whether running from deep, covering the ground in midfield or defending stoutly in his own penalty area. Russia’s match vs. England ended with a draw, and it was quite an achievement.
Russian Federation lost possession in midfield and Joe Allen slipped Ramsey in on goal with a flawless through ball which was put away by the Arsenal player. “Anything can happen in the next matches”. Meanwhile, England and Slovakia remained in a scoreless draw, and 20 minutes later, the impossible was on the cusp of becoming reality.
Whereas most teams have been content to start matches cautiously in this tournament, Wales have gone for it from the off and have netted four first-half goals, twice as many as any other side.
For Coleman, this was a ideal night.
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Gareth Bale is on fire.
