Still, unlike Portugal, Wales and Bale have been wonderful and a truly refreshing surprise in reaching a first semifinal at a major tournament.
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Before playing in Saint Denis for the trophy, they’ll have to face Portugal, who won against Poland in penalties on Thursday.
In opening minutes of second half, it was Hal Robson-Kanu who struck with a marvellous turn and finish writing his name into Welsh football history with his stunning individual effort.
“It’s Portugal versus Wales, nothing more”, said Bale when asked about coming up against Ronaldo at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. “It’s a disappointment because we had a golden chance to go to the final”.
“I think you dream about nights like this, and you never know whether you’ll be lucky enough to live them”, Coleman said.
“We have to continue with our work and stick to it”, Bale finished.
Radja Nainggolan’s exquisite strike put Belgium into an early lead in the Lille quarter-final, yet Wales rallied rather than wilted under the Stade Pierre-Mauroy floodlights and levelled through captain Ashley Williams. “We defended like soldiers, our performance was fantastic”, Coleman said. “They had some unbelievable players”.
“The whole experience for us is uncharted territory – 1958 was our last time, a long long time [ago]”.
“All the players in the team can pass the ball so that’s what we tried to do, whether it’s Belgium or whoever”, Coleman added. As a back three or as a team we will look to overcome that challenge.
He will pit his wits in the last four against Cristiano Ronaldo, who played in his first European Championship as a teenager in 2004.
Here’s how #WAL swept #BEL aside and set up a #EURO2016 semi-final v #POR…
“We knew we had it in us, we obviously had a game plan”.
The Chelsea goalkeeper and Marc Wilmots reportedly had a frank exchange of views following Belgium’s 2-0 defeat to Italy in their opening game of Euro 2016. “We executed the plan to perfection and definitely deserved the victory”.
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“We made too many mistakes to win this match against a very good Wales side”. We kept the ball very well and we felt very comfortable. “That’s why we are so happy for Gareth and players like that, because they are here at this part of the tournament and can really affect games and show what they are all about, but I think we did that tonight as a team”.
