AFTER 58-years of near misses and disappointments, Wales will finally play major tournament football next summer.
Ahead of tonight’s party against Andorra, here is the A to Z of how they did it.
Aaron Ramsey From teenage talent to seemingly sulky captain who couldn’t reproduce his club form on the international stage, Ramsey has enjoyed a huge resurgence under Chris Coleman’s watch.
Wales are more than Gareth Bale and no player epitomises it better. There are few international sides in world football the Arsenal midfielder wouldn’t grace.
Brussels The scene of Wales’ biggest and best result of the campaign, the resolute 0-0 draw against Belgium, at the time the team ranked two in the world by Fifa.
But this was more than just a plucky point that maintained momentum. It was the night where the Welsh fans truly embraced Chris Coleman’s tenure and that he could lead Wales where no-one else had.
Cyprus So nice they did it twice, Cyprus paved the way for Welsh success and then they sealed it.
By stunning Bosnia, defeating them 2-1 away from home on match day one, Cyprus set up the Welsh momentum that they carried right the way to match day nine, when a bloke from London who plays for Walsall gave Cyprus another shock 2-1 win, this time in Israel. After all the hard luck stories, Wales lost to Bosnia but it didn’t matter, because Wales had Cyprus.
Desire to play You’d think it would be entirely natural for an international standard footballer to want to represent his country. You would think.
Wales told another story. Epitomised by the poster boy for ‘no, not this time, don’t fancy Finland,’ Ryan Giggs, successive Wales managers have seen players withdrawing from squads faster than a Fifa sponsor. But no longer; this group turns up on crutches, they turn up with fevers, but they always turn up, a massive change.
England’s Premier League I can’t bring myself to use the ghastly EPL acronym. But the amount of Welsh players now playing in England’s top flight has been key to their success.
Only Chris Gunter and Hal Robson-Kanu of Wales’ regular starters in the campaign aren’t currently with Premier League clubs, players like James Chester, Ben Davies and Neil Taylor playing giant roles for club and country.
Fateful free kick How different it could have been, if Gareth Bale’s free kick in Andorra hadn’t been retaken. If that Andorran defender hadn’t run out of the wall just a fraction too early. But he did. And Bale rifled home the retake, giving Wales a valuable 2-1 win against the minnows. At the time it meant nothing but relief. In hindsight, it meant everything.
Gareth Bale You may have heard of this chap. Started at Southampton, went to Spurs, didn’t win a Premier League game for a couple of seasons, nearly went to Nottingham Forest, wasn’t really cutting the mustard as a left back...
Look at him now. Terrorising La Liga defences as he did Premier League ones before it, the most expensive player in the world, a Champions League winner and a genuine superstar who is never happier than in a Wales shirt.
He deserves to grace the biggest international stage. And now he will.
Hal Robson Kanu So good he got his own song and went from unsung hero to cult hero, Hal Robson-Kanu had led the line for Wales throughout this campaign with distinction.
Sam Vokes was injured, Steve Morrison no longer considered and Wales needed to fill a void up front and find a way to be utilise Bale. Robson-Kanu provided the answer.
Innovation For so long Wales were seen as Luddites compared to England in terms of how they treated the beautiful game; but that’s no longer the case.
Dragon Park is a roaring success; the infrastructure is in place with a proper plan and proper funding with participation targets and a focus on grass roots football.
Jonathan Ford has dragged the FAW kicking and screaming into the 21st century and the national team has benefitted.
John Toshack I won’t be going overboard here, about a manager I called to be sacked for about three years before he actually was.
A mistake from day one, in the sense that he had alienated the players as a pundit, Toshack was seen as out of touch and directly caused the retirement of a slew of senior players.
However, we can’t fail to credit him for persistently promoting youth as a result. It was by no means a case of unearthing gem after gem with no mistakes, and the process was painful, but it’s helped massively now that the likes of Chris Gunter and Wayne Hennessey are at 50 caps and over.
King’s red card against Cyprus Down to ten men, battling to hang on to a 2-1 lead at home to Cyprus, this felt like this would be that moment. The moment when Wales became Wales and snatched failure from success, undid all their good work. Yet Wales held on, beat Cyprus with ten men and continued their fine start to the campaign.
Leader A superb skipper, a superb defender, a superb ambassador for his adopted country and someone who inspires those around him. The decision to make Ashley Williams Wales captain was a key part of the evolution.
Manager And let’s hear it for the boss, because there was a time when the only man who believed in Chris Coleman, was Chris Coleman.
He took the job in horrible circumstances, he tried to allow for continuity, but in the end he had to do things his own way, to at least potentially go out swinging.
But the players always believed in Coleman and he delivered big for them. He’s a history-maker.
Novi Sad For every high, there is a low.
September 2012, Serbia 6 Wales 1, World Cup qualification dreams over after the standard three games, and in the most humiliating style.
Chris Coleman pondered quitting, the players spoke of embarrassment, but it was the nadir. It’s been nothing but highs since, with the key victories over Scotland in the same campaign saving Coleman.
Osian Roberts Wales’ technical director, Chris Coleman’s greatest confidant, Roberts is the behind the scenes secret to Wales’ success.
Don’t rule him out as the next national team manager.
Professionalism The biggest legacy, perhaps, from the Gary Speed era, was the shift from the antiquated periods of Bobby Gould and John Toshack and even Mark Hughes, in terms of his band of over-30s.
Speed changed everything from training and accommodation to the mindset of those in the corridors of power.
Quality opponents and no more rubbish friendlies Wales have faced England twice, Belgium twice, Germany, Russia, a parade of powerhouse football nations in recent campaigns and they’ve got better and better for the experience.
Coupled with Coleman’s aversion to meaningless, insipid friendlies and now every Wales game feels important.
Roots Sad as it is, the Millennium Stadium became a millstone for Wales, a massive reminder of public dissatisfaction and a place with increasingly bad memories.
The full time switch to the Cardiff City Stadium has galvanised players and fans alike.
Speedo If this group began coming together under Toshack, it was Speed who really got the public believing change was possible. A legend as a player, a legend in waiting as a manager, this campaign was for him.
Together Stronger Yes it was just a slogan, but it was all part of the lightning in a bottle that was this campaign. Try and explain it to people who haven’t been involved and they wouldn’t understand, but the players do, the fans do, Chris Coleman does. Unity has never been stronger in Welsh football.
Understanding in Madrid I feared the worst for Wales when Gareth bid farewell to White Hart Lane, I really did. Why would the biggest club in world football care even a tiny bit about Wales?
Was this going to become another Giggs? Not even a tiny bit. Madrid have been great with Wales, thankfully.
Virtually unbreachable Four goals conceded in nine qualifiers and a run of clean sheets that stretched for an incredible nine hours and 34 minutes of Group B action. Incredible stuff.
Wayne Hennessey The man who takes the most credit for the superb collective efforts of the Welsh defence is Hennessey, who was simply magnificent throughout the campaign.
It’s a real shame he’s yet to find a club where he can find regular first team football, because he’s Wales’ true unsung hero.
Extra teams/extended format At least the words have Xs in them. It would be silly not to acknowledge that the European Championships being for 24 teams instead of 16, with three teams per group potential able to qualify, hasn’t helped Wales, because it has.
Youth movement Started by Toshack, embraced by Speed and Coleman, Wales’ focus on always looking for the next young star has meant a group of players has grown up together.
And with Osian Roberts creating an environment whereby the youth set-up is based on the senior one, the continuity for Wales has never been better. The current poster boy? Newport County’s own Regan Poole, Manchester United’s latest signing.
Zombie Nation Because raving for a whole half time break in Belgium is brilliant. And because every heart-warming Hollywood success story needs a fitting soundtrack, that will stay in your head for a week after a Wales game.
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