Best result in Welsh history, says hero Gareth

GARETH BALE last night celebrated the ‘greatest result in the history of Welsh football’ after Wales ended their 64-year wait to qualify for the World Cup by beating Ukraine 1-0 in Cardiff. Despite being outplayed for the majority of the play-off, Wales edged through to join England in Group B in Qatar when West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko headed Bale’s free-kick into his own net in the first half. Bale said: ‘It’s the greatest result in the history of Welsh football. We are all so ecstatic, and we’re going to a World Cup. ‘It’s what dreams are made of. It’s what we’ve been working for since we first came together. I’m speechless because we’re so happy — we did it for all our amazing fans and our country.’ Rob Page, who has deputised as Wales manager in the enforced absence of Ryan Giggs, dedicated the feat to former national coach Gary Speed, who died in 2011. He said: ‘Gary Speed started this 12 or 13 years ago. I want to dedicate this to Gary. He started the culture. The environment completely changed. I’ve inherited that. ‘We don’t hope to qualify for the World Cup or Euros now, we believe we can do it, so there’s been a massive change in the mentality as well.’ While Wales celebrated a first trip to the World Cup since 1958, Ukraine were denied an uplifting moment at a time when their home nation is being ravaged by the Russian invasion. Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko said: ‘The Wales keeper (Wayne Hennessey) did an unbelievable job, definitely man of the match. I don’t think we deserved to lose today. ‘Unfortunately we did not get the result we wanted. I feel sorry for our fans. ‘A lot of fans could not come to the stadium because they did not have that opportunity. I feel sorry for them and all who have been supporting us.’