Asked if he believed Wales could go all the way in France, the Real Madrid star said: “It’s in our hands now but we can’t afford to look past the semi-final”.
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The 47-year-old took charge in May 2012 and helped the national side to a peak position of number one in the Federation Internationale de Football Association world rankings last year, but has failed to guide it to what would have been a first semi-final appearance at a major tournament since 1986.
“The fact we are in the semi-final is absolutely fantastic but we have to approach our next game just by taking care of our own performance”.
Ramsey added that despite the fateful yellow card, he considers his individual performance against Belgium to be one of his finest.
“We’ll recover from this game in the next couple of days and we’ll move forward to Portugal”. “Aaron and Ben both took one for the team”.
Although Belgium’s travelling support can rightly feel disappointed that the so-called “golden generation” have failed in their quest for silverware yet again, they should be recognised for their great sportsmanship too. We started the game well, we created two or three chances and we got the goal.
Jonny Williams is the favourite to replace Ramsey in midfield against Portugal. Obviously we are all on cloud nine but we are professionals and we have another game.
“I’m absolutely gutted for Aaron because he’s been outstanding at this tournament – one of the best players at this tournament”, Coleman said. We’re not lying when we say these things. They never gave up and best of all, they never allowed any room for doubt to creep into their hearts.
When he stopped to face the media in the early hours of Saturday, Ramsey was clearly torn between vast pride at his part in a memorable victory and the knowledge he will only feature again at Euro 2016 if Wales reach the final at Paris’ Stade de France on 10 July.
“Everybody is ready to step in”, said Ramsey. Everyone wants to achieve something special for each other.
“Not many teams can do that against Belgium, who are an excellent team with the ball themselves”.
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Instead, from manager Chris Coleman and captain Ashley Williams to superstar Gareth Bale and out-of-contract wondergoal scorer Hal Robson-Kanu, Wales are now refocussing on their next opponent Portugal on Wednesday in Lyon.
