Wales deservedly advances to a semifinal against Portugal next Wednesday in Lyon. Back then, Williams had just finished a League One season with Stockport, and the Wales skipper recognises that his progress is the stuff of fairytale.
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That campaign ended when Pele scored for Brazil in the quarter finals.
Defender Ben Davies will also miss the semi-final and Ramsey described his foul as a “natural reaction”, accepting he deserved to be booked for the offence.
“I am still pinching myself”.
“You know, at the start of qualifying we were underdogs to even qualify but we knew the quality we have in our group”.
“You need a bit of talent of course but you have to work hard and that’s what we’ve done and we find ourselves in an incredible position”.
“I wanted to stand up and be counted, so I am delighted I was able to help my team and grab a couple of assists that meant we won quite comfortably in the end. From the back it’s nice to watch the unbelievable players in front of you”.
Arsenal midfielder Ramsey’s performances throughout Euro 2016 have proven there is more to Chris Coleman’s side that Gareth Bale, with the 25-year-old enjoying his best run of form since late 2013.
“I wouldn’t swap Gareth for anyone”.
“We lost against Italy, but I think we played three good matches against [Republic of] Ireland, against Sweden and against Hungary”.
Wales will take on Portugal in the semi, knowing that they’re potentially only 90 minutes away from a final in Paris that few would have predicted.
With the heavyweight contenders for the title grouped into one side of the knockout draw, the path looked clear for Belgium to march into next week’s final with a squad, on paper at least, bristling with talent. However, the two Real Madrid stars have a rivalry in the team and will meet in the pitch with a European final in the table.
“Wales had more chances than us and were more unsafe”.
“We kept to our game plan”. So obviously, we got the goal back and we went in at half time the much better team.
Although this was nearly a home game for the Belgians, whose border is five miles from Stadium Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, the only voices to be heard were Welsh, from “Land of my Fathers” to “Men of Harlech” and, their inevitable anthem of Euro 2016, “Please Don’t Send Me home”.
“I’m really gutted. I’m confident in the players we have to step in and get us to the final”.
“It’s another challenge for me, but it’s not something I’ll be nervous about”.
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“We have a great team, great staff and great fans”.
