IT’S WELL WORTH AS WALES CREATE
WOW, wow, wow. And wow again. Was that wait worth it, or not? Wales celebrated their their first match in a major finals for 58 years with this stunning Euro 2016 victory which set up the party to beat any party for more than 20,000 fans who had flocked to Bordeaux to savour the moment.
Gareth Bale, who else, got the party started with a 10th-minute free-kick opener which left us daring to dream.
After Ondrej Duda equalised for Slovakia, it was Hal Robson-Kanu who popped up as our unlikely match-winner with the most perfect of shinned goals nine minutes from time.
It was the most wonderful miscue we have seen from any Welsh player in history, the ball bamboozling goalkeeper Matus Kozacik and nestling beautifully into the Slovakian net to give Wales the perfect beginning to this tournament.
They had gone into this Group B opener on the back of a wretched run of form, just one win in seven games. Slovakia, by contrast, headed out to France unbeaten in eight.
But this was where it really counted, not friendly matches in the buildup where results were irrelevant.
What we witnessed was one of the greatest triumphs in Welsh sporting history and definitely the most significant by any Wales football side.
For the time being, that is, because on the evidence of this wonder show there could be more to come in the coming days and weeks.
Next up are England in Lens on Thursday. Wales will be relishing the battle. As they will the group finale against Russia.
Heck, with the four best thirdplaced teams going into the knockout stages, Chris Coleman’s men may already have done enough to qualify for the last 16.
But after this Wales will want more than that. Much more. Whisper it quietly, but they’ll even be thinking about topping the group.
Everywhere you looked, there were Welsh idols out on that pitch.
Bale and Robson-Kanu for their goals, Joe Allen, in particular, and Aaron Ramsey who controlled the match so majestically from the midfield for so much of the 90 minutes, even if the Arsenal man gave the ball away a tad too often.
Ben Davies at the back, having his most magnificent match yet in a Welsh shirt. James Chester too, on the other side of the defence. Imperious at times.
But while I’ve picked out individuals, this was a victory for the whole team. Together they were one, roared on inside the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux by their truly magnificent fans.
Having waited almost six decades for a big match at this level, it was perhaps somewhat inevitable Wales’ preparations would be disrupted by some sort of last-minute hitch.
It happened in the least expected way, with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey succumbing to a sudden back problem, meaning Liverpool rookie Danny Ward was handed an 11thhour first Wales start.
Coleman could have done without those problems, particularly as Hennessey was excellent during qualifying, keeping six clean sheets, only conceding four goals in total and generally providing an air of assured confidence behind his defence.
Talk about Ward being thrown in at the deep end. Not so far back he was playing between the sticks for nonleague Tamworth.
However, the youngster from north Wales had no option but to embrace the moment, although his nerves would have been jangling as the teams walked out to a rapturous ovation from an army of Welsh fans decked out in red inside the stadium.
Those supporters had wondered if this moment of roaring on their team in a major finals would come, but by car, rail or air had made their way out to Bordeaux and certainly made their presence felt with an utterly stirring rendition of the national anthem.
Finally, after 58 years of waiting, kick-off for Wales in a major finals and the big question was how would Coleman’s men, and young Ward in particular, cope with the sense of occasion?
Pretty damn well to start with, was the answer. There was an early scare when the dangerous Marek Hamsik ghosted past two defenders and slipped his shot beyond Ward, but Davies backpedalled brilliantly to clear off the line.
However, that was the only time Ward was remotely threatened during a first 45 minutes when Wales were utterly imperious.
They got their reward for the dominance after 10 minutes when Jonny Williams was bundled over by Patrik Hrosovsky 25 yards from goal. You just knew what was going to happen as a certain Gareth Bale lined up the free kick.
He smacked it goalwards, the ball swerving and dipping to the left to fox Slovakian goalkeeper Kozacik who, terrified Bale was going to dip the ball over the wall, had taken a step too far the other way.
As the ball nestled beautifully into the back of the Slovakian goal, cue delirium inside the stadium. Bale and his team-mates ran to the sidelines to celebrate with the rest of the squad and members of the coaching staff, the fans went bonkers.
If one moment perfectly embodied the Together Stronger mantra, it was there right then.
Yes, you can question Kozacik’s positioning for the free-kick, but he was frightened of Bale’s brilliance and tried to hedge his bets by covering behind the wall and on the other side of it, too. He gambled, and failed.
One-nil to Wales. “Are you watching England,” chanted the Welsh fans.
Almost immediately, every Welsh player grew in confidence while the Slovaks completely lost their way. Ramsey and Allen kept Wales on the front foot, the defenders were aggressive in their tackling. Ashley Williams led by example, Jonny Williams floated around and probed dangerously, Bale was working his socks off.
Wales were playing brilliantly and should have had more rewards in the form of a stonewall penalty in the 31st minute when Martin Skrtel almost rugby-tackled Joniesta to the ground. Norwegian referee Svein Moen waved play on, yet the incident happened barely two feet from where his assistant was standing behind the goal. Talk about the officials bottling it. Wales could have done with the cushion of a two-goal lead because surely they couldn’t be quite so dominant again in the second half, could they?
No, they couldn’t, and Slovakia drew level on 61 minutes, Legia Warsaw youngster Duda scoring within 60 seconds of coming on as a substitute as he got away from Williams and shot home low past Ward.
It was Duda’s first touch of the