AFTER ALL THE WOE SPANNING DECADES, IT’S FINALLY TIME TO LIVE THE DREAM
SO, here we are. After decades of anguish, tonight at 7pm Wales finally get to play in a World Cup again. Words we feared we’d never get to write. Something we worried would never actually happen.
How good it is to finally cherish the moment.
If France and Euro 2016 can never be bettered for many – the first major finals most of us have known, the hordes descending upon France, the fans’ celebrations, the semi-finals, those epic goals – this is very much the next best thing.
Who knows, another stellar tournament, this time with the eyes of the whole world upon them rather than merely an entire continent, and even greater memories could be made by Gareth Bale and his team?
We will see as Qatar 2022 unfolds over the coming days and weeks.
As we get ready for the big kick-off, hundreds of thousands of us – regular supporters, floating fans, nonfootball folk suddenly taking an interest because of what it is – will be getting hold of those wallcharts and attempting to plot Wales’ path through the tournament.
Probably as Group B runners-up to England, if we’re being realistic, though we should remember who finished top the last time Wales were paired with Harry Kane and his team at a major tournament.
However, let’s surmise Wales are indeed second this time. Then it will probably be the Netherlands in the last 16, although don’t rule out Senegal – Sadio Mane or not – or indeed even host nation Qatar when it comes to topping that particular group from where Wales’ next opponents would come.
Edge through that game, and it would likely be Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Wales v Lionel Messi. Wow. This really is the realms of X-Factor. The point of difference.
Do the highly improbable and come through that one, and Neymar and Brazil could well be waiting in the semis.
As fantasy football goes, it doesn’t get much better than this. But football is about dreams, and Welsh folk everywhere are dreaming at this moment in time.
Or at the very least heavily studying those wallcharts to try to work out how far their team will go and which superpowers may be in wait beyond the Group B openers with England, the USA and Iran.
That’s the beauty of Wales qualifying for the World Cup. We’ve not had that opportunity before. Well, not since 1958 anyway, when a teenage Pele and Brazil knocked John Charles and his side out in their only other finals appearance.
The World Cup is always the biggest football event on earth, but 64 years on it is in another stratosphere in terms of global appeal, TV viewing figures, commercial opportunities, profile of competing nations and everything that goes with it.
This is a tournament littered with history and iconic never-to-be-forgotten moments that are replayed time and time again on our TV screens.
Think Gazza’s tears at Italia 90. Marco Tardelli’s arm-pumping celebration after scoring for Italy against Germany in the 1982 final. Kenneth Wolstenholme’s ‘Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s over’ 1966 commentary. Johann Cruyff’s turn in 1974. Argentina’s ticker tape and Mario Kempes in 1978.
Who can forget what Diego Maradona did to England in the 1986 quarter-finals, before repeating the feat against Belgium in the semis.
We’ve had spectacular goals, infamous fouls, huge controversies. Cristiano Ronaldo’s wink when Wayne Rooney was sent off, Luis Suarez’s handball on the line against Ghana. In 1982 the Prince of Kuwait even came onto the field to complain about a controversial France goal and held up play for several minutes.
This, finally, is Wales’ chance to get in on the act, to be part of future World Cup greatest moments highlights reels, albeit we want it to be for good, rather than contentious moments.
A plethora of genuine Wales greats have never had this opportunity. It’s easy to roll out the names of Ian Rush, Neville Southall, Ryan Giggs and Mark Hughes, but so many others were also deserving of this world stage – Craig Bellamy, John Toshack, Micky Thomas, Brian Flynn, Terry Yorath, Leighton James, Dean Saunders. The list goes on and on.
A penny for their thoughts when they tune in to see Bale and his Class of 2022 get their big chance. Being the Welsh fervents they are, the legends of yesteryear will of course be rooting for Rob Page’s men, though there is bound to be a tinge or two of envy thrown in there somewhere.
You just get the feeling they’d have lit up the world stage themselves, just as Bale and Co did in the Euros.
So how will Wales realistically get on in Qatar?
As usual, everything will hinge on Bale and Aaron Ramsey as they look to roll back the years and sizzle in front of the world.
Bale isn’t the Bale of old, the swashbuckler who rampaged by three or four defenders in one go with searing pace and power. We know that. He’s even been getting limited game time in the US.
But he was still the one who came up with two wonder goals in the play-offs against Austria and followed that with the decisive moment to win the final against Ukraine.
Bale is a big-game player and it doesn’t get any bigger than this. As such, the captain remains the man who holds a nation’s fate upon his shoulders, who can produce those moments of individual brilliance that make the difference in a huge international contest.
Ramsey (circled, left) isn’t quite in that class, but at his best for Wales he isn’t too far behind with his beautiful playmaking skills.
Getting fit for the World Cup seems to have been the priority for those two and it appears their timing has been perfect in that respect.
It was Bale and Ramsey who lit up the Euros for Wales last year with stellar performances in the 2-0 win over Turkey in Baku, a result that enabled Page’s team to progress to the knockout stages.
That was the second match of the group, sandwiched in between an opening draw with Switzerland and a narrow loss to Italy.
You get the feeling something similar might happen this time, too. England will be expected to win the group – not that Gareth Southgate’s side have exactly been pulling up trees recently – meaning Wales, the USA and Iran are likely to be fighting it out for the runners-up spot.
Those three are remarkably close in the FIFA rankings – USA 16th, Wales 19th and Iran 20th.
The opener with the USA today could have draw written over it, with neither team wanting to lose. Unlike Wales, the Americans are World Cup veterans, having featured in seven of the last eight tournaments, and possess the likes of Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, Juventus defender Weston McKennie and Borussia Dortmund hotshot Gio Reyna in their ranks. Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson is part of a midfield with energy and athleticism.
Indeed, a draw might not be a bad result for Wales.
That would make it imperative they beat Iran four days on, a feat that most certainly is not beyond them.
The Iranians are one of the unknown quantities in the tournament, but they have a master manager in
Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson’s old Manchester United No. 2 and they will be playing in conditions they are accustomed to.
Their build-up has been somewhat in disarray, on and off the field, but Iran expect Queiroz to bring everyone together just when it counts.
They’ll make it hard for Wales – it could even be another draw – but realistically Bale and his team will expect to win.
In the Battle of Britain finale with England, anything can happen. By that stage Southgate’s men may well have qualified, meaning the manager rests his better players like Kane, Raheem Sterling, Declan Rice and Phil Foden for the knockout stages.
England do have the wood over Wales at the moment, having won the last six encounters between the two countries.
If there is a time to end that run, then this, the biggest stage of the lot, is the perfect moment.
Were that to happen, we shouldn’t care one iota whether it’s Southgate’s first XI or second-string side.
Anyway, didn’t pundit and former England midfielder Danny Murphy
recently say England have three teams capable of beating Wales? Didn’t Gabby Agbonlohar state not a single Welsh player would make England’s top 30?
It’s actually possible for Wales to draw with the USA and Iran, lose 1-0 to England and still go through on two points, courtesy of goal difference. After that, it’s probably the Dutch, could be Senegal, might even be Qatar given how the host nations tends to get through. Can’t be Ecuador, can it?
Netherlands would be red-hot favourites against Wales, but in a oneoff knockout match anything is possible. Particularly with games potentially going to penalty shootouts.
If Wales do prevail, then it’d likely be Messi and his mob.
But this is wallchart territory. The chance to plan, plot and work out Wales’ potential path through the World Cup. The dream scenario, the minefields to avoid.
What ifs, what ifs and yet more what ifs. Isn’t it wonderful we can simply say that after six decades or hurt?