Joy in Bosnia defeat as Wales make history to qualify for Euro 2016
It was not quite the script that Chris Coleman and his players had in mind beforehand but it will go down as the night when Wales added their name to the guest list for next summer’s European Championship finals, buried the memory of all those near misses over the years and brought an end to that miserable run of failing to qualify for $1150 new authentic celine trio leather beige shoulder crossbody bag italy a major tournament since 1958.
Wales lost their unbeaten record at the hands of Bosnia-Herzegovina, courtesy of second-half goals from Milan Djuric and Vedad Ibisevic, as well as their place at the top of Group B, but those feel like small and insignificant details in the context of the history that Coleman’s side have created. “The best defeat of my life,” Gareth Bale said, summing up the emotions at the final whistle.
In the end Wales were grateful for a favour from Cyprus, who won 2-1 in Israel, meaning that Coleman’s side, with a game to spare, are guaranteed to finish in one of the top two positions. The Wales manager would no doubt have preferred to celebrate at the end in different circumstances but nothing was going to detract from what his team have achieved.
To put things into perspective, the last time Wales reached a major finals, with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Israel on 5 February 57 years ago, Harold Macmillan was prime minister, Elvis Presley was No1 with Jailhouse Rock, and Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End were battling it 0 celine a scene 75 cleveland out at the top of the old First Division.
Since then it has felt like one hard luck tale after another for Wales, from controversial refereeing decisions against Scotland in 1977 and 1985 to Paul Bodin’s missed penalty against Romania in 1993 and a play-off defeat at the hands of Russia a decade later. This, however, was the evening when Wales finally got a helping hand from elsewhere as Gareth Bale and his team-mates wrote their names into the record books alongside Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones and John Charles.
It is some story for Coleman, who had revealed on the eve of this game that he considered quitting three years ago, when Wales were hammered 6-1 by Serbia – only 180 miles $1150 new authentic celine trio leather beige shoulder crossbody bag italy from Zenica – in a World Cup qualifier that left him utterly crestfallen. The turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable. $4850 celine runway sleeveless alpaca hooded coat fr34 Wales have climbed from as low as 117th in the world rankings in 2011 to eighth, one place behind Brazil, and can now look forward to rubbing shoulders with the top $3600 new authentic celine mini luggage drummed souris taupe leather bag tote nations in Europe.
“It’s really strange, I’ve never been so happy to lose 2-0,” Coleman said, looking almost dazed. “Obviously when I was walking off I saw our supporters singing and then our secretary, Mark Evans, $4100 celine black leather python edge satchel gold zip top bag women& whispered in my ear that Israel had lost, so it was game on after that, all smiles. It probably won’t sink in for a few days because we’ve waited so long. I don’t just mean as a manager or a player, even when I was a kid I was waiting for us to qualify and we missed out and missed out. So for us to finally do it, I can’t describe the feeling because there was a lot of emotion involved.
“In my career it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever achieved. I played for some good clubs, but I’ve never done anything like this. It doesn’t matter where I go after Wales, I’m not sure anything is going to top this feeling.”
There were raucous scenes at the end as Coleman led the players over to the corner of the stadium where the 725 Wales fans – the $50 cheap celine slippers for women majority of whom will have followed their country through some lean times – were in a state of delirium. The celebrations went on long into the night and it promises to be quite a party in Cardiff in Tuesday, when Wales host Andorra in the final qualifier.
There is incredible team spirt among the Wales players related site, and Ashley Williams has been an inspirational captain, but there is no escaping the fact 0 celine 173823ska 18cc to grams that Bale has been the driving force behind their success, scoring six and setting up two of their nine qualification goals. At times over the past 12 months the Real Madrid forward has looked like a man possessed in a Wales shirt and his delight at the final whistle was evident.
“This is right up there in my career,” Bale said. “It was a dream from when I was a small child $4850 celine runway sleeveless alpaca hooded coat fr34 nwt to play in a major tournament. It doesn’t stop here, we have business to do in France. We can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the occasion. We are like brothers on the pitch. If we lose the ball we fight for it back. We can now test ourselves against the best.”
While Coleman deserves all the acclaim that will come his way over the coming days and weeks, the part that a couple of his predecessors played in reviving Welsh football should not be overlooked.
Nine of the players that started against Bosnia here were given their debuts by John Toshack $3400 celine nano luggage bag nwt dust bag – who regularly made the point that another Wales manager would reap the rewards of the “golden generation” he blooded – and it was his successor, the late Gary Speed, who had started to build on those foundations and sow the seeds of a revival.
Quite what Wales are capable of achieving in France is anyone’s guess. It is, however, safe to say that Bale, Williams and the rest of the squad will attract more attention back home than the 1958 team. Jones, a double winner with Tottenham, tells a lovely story about returning from Sweden with several of his Swansea team-mates, including Mel Charles, after losing to Brazil in the quarter-finals, and the moment when they got off the train in south Wales and realised the extent to which their achievements had gone under the radar. “One of Charlo’s mates was there and he said: ‘Hi Mel, where have you been, on holiday?’”
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