THAT ENGLAND VIDEO

(WALES beat Northern Ireland 1-0, then came Belgium in Lille in the quarter-finals. But first a storm was about to erupt over that controversial team room video as the Welsh players watched Iceland beat England.) Edwards: “It was absolutely unbelievable watching that game. Everyone became more and more engrossed.

When England went in front everyone just assumed the game was over and they would go on to win fairly comfortably, but Iceland got back into it and equalised.

From there, for whatever reason, we just started getting behind Iceland.

It certainly wasn’t an anti-England thing. Far from it. Most of the lads in that room had team-mates and friends in the England team and among its staff.

It was more of an underdog thing, and I suppose a selfish thing too, thinking that one of the bigger teams may be going out before the last eight stage, perhaps making it a little bit easier for us to make further progress.

There were also a few lads in our squad who knew some of the Iceland players.

There was a real admiration for Iceland as we had followed their story. Like us, they were underdogs. Like us, they were making progress in the tournament. Their story was even bigger than ours, given their population is just over 300,000 and having no professional league.

As they got back into the game we all sensed this could be amazing for the tournament and could open things right up. They were on the tougher side of the draw and Iceland getting to the quarter-finals would be an unbelievable achievement.

Then they took the lead! As fulltime got closer, I think that was when the feeling became so strongly behind Iceland, for our own hopes in the tournament, and because it was going to be a really special moment.

Iceland had won, and then that video went viral. We’re still not sure how, but maybe it was passed through a chain of people until it reached someone who made it public.

For us, it was a celebration of the underdog winning. It certainly wasn’t anything anti-English, despite what some might believe.

When I was at Shrewsbury we lost 2-0 at Histon, and it was a horrible feeling. Yet we knew that the neutrals out there would have been willing Histon to win. I am the same – if there is a non-league team playing Manchester United, I’d want the non-league team to win.

It’s just how it is with most football fans. You root for the underdog. The video caused a bit of a stir, which is understandable, but there wasn’t anything more to it than that.”

WALES STARS DOING THE HAKA

(THE Wales players held court sessions in the evenings to forge team spirit. They were split into small teams - and the losing players had to perform a dance. Cue hilarity...) Edwards: “Our team, led by Neil Taylor, were a fair few points adrift at the bottom of the table, so it was time for our wild card – the opportunity to do something to impress the judges, pick up some points for the team, and hopefully climb off the bottom.

By this stage we needed to produce something special and as we’d been watching some rugby during the tournament – Wales had toured New Zealand in June – and had really enjoyed watching the All Blacks doing their famous haka, this got us thinking.

David Vaughan had attempted the haka previously after being nominated and – in front of the lads – had given it everything he’d got, so we plumped for a team haka to win some much-needed points.

Stripped to the waist, bandanas round our heads and wearing just training pants, Wayne Hennessey, Neil Taylor, David Vaughan, Jonny Williams and myself stormed into the room making any manner of random noises and slapping our knees.

It wasn’t the most technically correct haka you’ll see, but the place went up and the players collapsed in fits of laughter. Wayne and Tayls’ intensity was awesome as the players filmed us on their phones – another video that went viral.”

THE SPECIAL POST-BELGIUM

Edwards: “I thought I’d seen everything, but the celebrations in the dugout were beyond anything I’d experienced. We went completely nuts and my injury was totally forgotten as we hugged everyone and anyone.

What an achievement for the nation. The final whistle went and Wales were in the semi-finals of the European Championships.

We went over to celebrate in the corner with the Welsh fans as normal, and went into our huddle.

This was when our masseur, Chris Senior, went into the middle of the circle with a camera to take some pictures. Somehow, the circle turned into a heart.

Nobody planned it. At ground level we couldn’t even see it had happened, but it seemed to sum everything up.

Gareth had formed a heart with his hands in Bordeaux after our first goal, and we’d formed a heart with our bodies in Lille.

It was destiny. I remember seeing the image after the game and it just seemed like it was meant to be.”

AND ON TO PORTUGAL..

(NEXT it was on to Lyon and that semi-final showdown.)