LILLE, FRANCE – JULY 01: Marc Wilmots manager of Belgium shows his dejection after his team’s 1-3 defeat in the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter final match between Wales and Belgium at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on July 1, 2016 in Lille, France.
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Goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes cancelled out Radja Nainggolan’s early thunderbolt, sending the world number two ranked Belgians crashing out of the competition.
However, their latest triumph – a 3-1 quarter-final win over Belgium – was their biggest yet, setting up a semi-final date with Portugal.
The Red Dragons now face off against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Wednesday night for a place in the final – a game which will pit Bale against his Real Madrid team-mate.
He said: “We had a sound check (for their concert) last night, we finished the sound check and then went upstairs to the bar”.
Having netted three times, Gareth Bale has stole the headlines but the Arsenal man has played such a big role in helping Chris Coleman’s side reach this stage with some truly tireless midfield displays.
“I am absolutely gutted for Aaron because he’s been outstanding in this tournament”, Coleman said.
“We knew we had it in us, we obviously had a game plan”.
“We know what we are doing, we need to just keep enjoying ourselves and doing what we have been and we can go as far as we want”.
Only once has a British team scored more at a major tournament and that was England (11) when they won the World Cup in 1966.
Aaron Ramsey is set to miss the first ever semi-final for Wales, following his one match suspension after collecting 2 yellow cards in the tournament.
James Moore, 24, originally from Bridgend, said: “I was just amazed when we qualified, I was amazed when we topped the group and I’ll be amazed when the lads make history by beating Belgium”.
But Acton-born Robson-Kanu, who represented England at U-19 and U-20 level before switching allegiance to Wales due to a Caerphilly-born grandmother, admits it was his decision to leave Reading and take his chances with a move elsewhere.
“We’re very proud at what the ’58 team did”, added Bale.
“We played very well and when we needed to defend we defended like soldiers”.
“They looked for the victor in the second half but, when we countered them, we put them on the back foot and there were long periods of the game where we were in control”.
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I think we deserve to be in the semi-finals.
