Wales were fourth seeds when the Group B draw was made, but goals by Aaron Ramsey, Neil Taylor and Gareth Bale gave them a 3-0 victory over Russian Federation and took them to the top as England played out a goalless draw with Slovakia.
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Aaron Ramsey and Neil Taylor also scored in Wales’ easy win in Toulouse against a limp Russian side whose campaign has been tainted by their roughhouse fans.
“We must develop players and change how football works”, he said.
Wales have been criticised for not getting Bale into the game enough during this tournament, but the Real Madrid forward began his personal battle with Igor Akinfeev when he tested the Russian Federation goalkeeper with a stinging shot.
Bale is now the tournament’s top scorer and the first player to score in all three group games since Milan Baros hit three for the Czech Republic in 2004.
England manager Roy Hodgson said afterwards on ITV: “I can’t fault the effort that the lads put in and it’s a little bit embarrassing that we’ve dominated three games and only won one of them”.
“We always said “have no regrets”. We started very well, we didn’t feel too nervous.
“Obviously we’ve had some fantastic nights over the last few years [with Wales] but that was really incredible and to top the group as well was an even better feeling, and one that we want to keep having”.
Wales’ next fixture will be in Paris on Saturday.
Russian Federation coach Leonid Slutsky said the defeat would be his final game in charge.
Coach Chris Coleman knows he must now manage expectations. As the match progressed that soon morphed into “We are top of the league” and they can now look forward to further adventures ahead. If we did not succeed it is truly my mistake.
“This is new for us, it’s exciting”. “We did our homework, we knew what to expect and I thought our gameplan was flawless”.
The current Welsh team do not have the concentration of star power of Coleman’s generation, with players of the quality of Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Gary Speed, Mark Hughes and Neville Southall failing to make it to a tournament finals.
After a promising start that saw Bale force Akinfeev to save down low in the opening minute, it was Arsenal midfielder Ramsey who got Wales up and running in the 11th minute. “I don’t think France will be playing in the same way as Russia, Wales and Slovakia played against us”.
But Roy Hodgson’s team labored horribly – failing to make the breakthrough it so badly craved and allowing Wales, playing in its first major worldwide tournament since 1958, to win the group.
The match was notable for Pele’s maiden global goal in Brazil’s 1-0 win.
And that’s just what England wants: a more ambitious opponent willing to take risks so they can showcase their own attacking qualities rather than having to pick their way through a dogged defensive unit.
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It was a fantastic team performance. You can see live coverage of all the matches on your TV channels – SONY SIX and SONY ESPN. He added: “As a nation geographically we are small, but if you are judging us on passion you can describe us as a continent”.
