So, sixty four years of pain, frustration and resignation for the Welsh football team and the nation itself ended with the sort of win that they used to specialise in – a backs to the wall, repelling waves of pressure amid last ditch blocks and saves that had their supporters chewing their nails to the quick triumph that saw World Champions Germany, the fine Denmark side of the eighties and Belgium’s golden generation side, among others, beaten.
In recent years, Wales have been good enough to sometimes win big games with some style, but I’ll freely admit that, having watched a very impressive Ukraine take Scotland apart on Wednesday and considered that they were fated to reach the Finals in five months time, I just didn’t see us making it – this could well be Wales’ greatest ever side, but it still wasn’t good enough to deny Ukraine their destiny.
Yet, after that ninety minutes, I find myself wondering if there was a side that was destined to qualify, it was us, not Ukraine, because it was a combination of those traditional Welsh fighting qualities, hwyl, defensive grit, inspired goalkeeping and also no small amount of luck that played a big part in ending the sixty four year wait.
I use the word luck in relation to one incident shortly after the decisive goal when Joe Allen was surprised by Andriy Yarmalenko who nipped in front of him to gain possession in the Welsh penalty area, Allen moved his foot as a reflex action to where the ball had been, but only succeeded in kicking the former West Ham forward. Perhaps Yarmalenko’s fall to the floor was over theatrical, but that didn’t make Allen’s kick any less of a foul. It seemed a clear penalty on first viewing and looked even more like one on the ten or so replays shown within seconds of the incident and yet the VAR official was, bafflingly, clearly happy for play to restart with a corner following one of nine saves man of the match Wayne Hennessy was forced to make – this one from Manchester City’s very impressive Olexandre Zinchenko..
Allen was one of a couple of Welsh players booked with barely two minutes showing on the clock (the other was Dan James for dissent) as the odds on Wales not finishing the game with eleven men shortened considerably and then within another minute, the ball was in the Welsh net only for Spanish referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz to rule no goal because Zinchenko had taken a free kick too quickly for his liking.
The early signs were that the sheer emotion of the occasion had got to the Welsh team, but, although not imposing themselves on the game, they did begin to warm to their task somewhat without doing anything to break the feeling that the so important first goal was more likely to be scored by the visitors.
Ukraine shredded a Scottish midfield that looks better than ours on paper on Wednesday and so a repeat of the formation seen against Austria whereby Allen was largely left to patrol the central areas in front of our back three by himself always seemed unlikely to me. The one change in personnel from the Semi Final saw Keiffer Moore come in for Harry Wilson, but there was a change in formation as Aaron Ramsey dropped back alongside Allen although, Ramsey being Ramsey, there were still a few of those runs into from deep positions that are associated with him.
For half an hour or so though Wales were mostly about trying to keep their shape against opponents who were dominating the ball, yet it was the previously pretty anonymous Gareth Bale, the biggest of the big occasion players on the pitch, who became the catalyst for the moment which decided the game after James had been fouled to give the Welsh captain his first free kick of the game around the Ukrainian penalty area.
No matter how much every Welsh man and woman would like to have what followed described as a Bale goal, I can’t see how it can be – it was not another sublime Austria type shot, in fact I don’t think it was a shot at all, but whatever it was, it was awkward enough to make Yarmalenko think he had to try to intercept it as it flew towards the far post, so the man who scored such a fine goal against Scotland tried to guide the ball out for a corner, but only succeeded in heading it into his own net beyond the wrong footed goalkeeper Giorgy Bushchan – Bale may not be credited with the goal, but I’d say it came about because of the frame of mind opponents get themselves into when defending against as accomplished a dead ball merchant as him.
Having survived the penalty shout mentioned earlier, Wales managed to get to half time with a lead gained from almost their only worthwhile attack of the forty five minutes, but they were to have their chances to add to their lead in a second half that was even more frantic than the first one had been.
Ramsey shot side wide from a great position after Moore’s pass following great build up play between Conor Roberts and James had found him unmarked ten yards out in the opening minutes of the second period and then, in the final quarter as Ukraine’s need for a goal saw them leave more gaps at the back, Bale should not have allowed Bushchan to make a save after he received a Ramsey cross shortly after Brennan Johnson, on for James, had volleyed against the post with his first touch after coming on.
Up the other end, there were plenty of Welsh blocks of shots which looked destined for the back of the net – notably by Nico Williams and the man who has been so good for Spurs lately and, for me, is Wales’ most consistent player, Ben Davies.
Davies was immense, but it was Hennessy who took the honours with a series of saves and a few brave blocks. The goalkeeper’s save from substitute Artem Dovbyk was the best of the bunch. In fact, I’m struggling to come up with a better one by a Welsh goalkeeper than Hennessy’s clawing back of a header just before the ball crossed the line which seemed to have beaten him – no wonder the goalkeeper said it was the best performance of his career for his country in a post match interview.
It was really good to see the Welsh team go to the corner of the ground occupied by the two thousand or so Ukrainian supporters at the end of the game to applaud them – they and their team have done their beleaguered country proud in the past week and it’s a real shame that such a fine servant to his country as Yarmalenko has been for the past decade and more should have the goal which denied his team a place up in the World Cup Finals debited to him.
There’s a couple of stats from before the Russian invasion which illustrate how well Wales did to win yesterday’s game – first, Ukraine were unbeaten in their qualifying group and, second, one of their opponents in said group were the defending champions France who they drew with home and away. Put that with what Ukraine did last Wednesday and it really is little wonder that yesterday became an occasion which had my mind going back almost all the way to 1958 as I recalled that once or twice I really was one of those who watched the early episodes of Doctor Who from behind the settee – it didn’t get quite that bad yesterday, bur it wasn’t far short of it!
So, Wales will be playing three games within eight days in late November of a type I never thought would happen, they’ll begin against USA, then it’s Iran before they end with a game against England – I say end, but it’s a fact that Wales have gone beyond the group stage in every major tournament they’ve qualified for before now!
