By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Wales have reached the semi-finals of EURO 2016 after a
wonderful performance in Lille to beat Marc Wilmots’ Belgium side 3-1.
Chris Coleman’s team recovered from a slow start, trailing
inside the opening 13 minutes to a stunning long-range strike from Radja
Nainggolan.
 |
| Ashley Williams celebrates his equaliser on a historic night for Wales |
Ashley Williams (pictured) equalised from a set-piece before the half
hour, before second half goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes took the Welsh
into the final four of a major international tournament for the first time in
their history.
They will play Portugal in the first semi-final next
Wednesday night in Lyon.
Coleman
comes up trumps
For a manager, they need to get their tactics spot-on and
their substitutions absolutely perfect. This is where some coaches fail as the
ex-England manager Roy Hodgson proved at these championships.
Wales boss Chris Coleman has been one of the finest at
getting his tactics correct and making vital substitutions when made. He did it
once again on Friday evening.
Making one change to the team that ended Northern Ireland’s
hopes last weekend, Robson-Kanu came back into the starting 11 in place of Vokes.
Robson-Kanu was terrific throughout and gave the Belgian defenders a huge
problem all evening.
With the scoreline at 1-1 in the second half and Belgium
enjoying a better spell of possession, Robson-Kanu changed the postscript of
this match with an electrifying moment of skill that Lionel Messi would have
been proud of.
He chested the ball down, then performed his own “Cruyff
turn” to completely bamboozle Marouane Fellaini and Thomas Meunier.
Then, he finished it off superbly with an unstoppable shot past Thibaut
Courtois.
When his race was run, Vokes was thrown on by Coleman, with
the main job of holding up the ball rather than adding to the scoreline. He had
other ideas.
As Belgium pushed forward for an equaliser, gaps started to
appear at the back. With five minutes left, Vokes beat Toby Alderweireld to
Chris Gunter’s cross and produced a header of real quality. It had power and
spin to bend it past Courtois and seal Wales’ amazing night.
This will go down as one of the greatest performances, not
just in Welsh football but in British football. They were unbelievable and
richly deserve the success they are getting at EURO 2016.
The only sour note was bookings for Ben Davies and Aaron
Ramsey which rule them both out of the semi-final. Ramsey’s yellow card was
extremely harsh but he put in another cracking performance in a championship
where he arguably has been the standout player in a team that now must surely
believe they can go all the way.
Wilmots’
woe
It will be a different story in the Belgian camp afterwards.
Ranked no.2 in the world before these championships, it is another campaign
which has ultimately ended in frustration and disappointment.
Their big creative players were limited all evening. Eden
Hazard couldn’t reproduce the form he demonstrated against Hungary, whilst
Kevin de Bruyne cut a forlorn figure as he couldn’t dictate the game.
Romelu Lukaku missed a couple of great opportunities in what
has been a tournament of anguish for the Everton frontman. Despite scoring
twice against the Republic of Ireland, Lukaku never looked like the world-class
talent he claims to be. Wilmots’ loyalty in sticking by him throughout EURO
2016 might cost both of them.
He will be struggling to hold onto his job after this
showing. They might be superb individuals but they simply don’t gel
consistently enough as a team. Two quarter-final showings will be considered a
real disappointment.
Injuries haven’t helped. Jan Vertonghen damaged ankle
ligaments in training this week, ruling him out for eight weeks. He joined Vincent
Kompany, Nicolas Lombaerts and Dedryck Boyata on the sidelines. Thomas Vermaelen’s
suspension was costly too. Without him and Vertonghen, Belgium conceded over
130 caps of international experience. The game was too much for youngsters
Jason Denayer and Jordan Lukaku.
For Belgium, it is a missed opportunity they will surely
regret. For Wales, this is now a golden opportunity to repeat the feats
achieved by Denmark in this competition in 1992 and by Greece in 2004.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Aaron Ramsey (Wales)
He must be a serious contender for Player of the Tournament.
Ramsey has been terrific in every game for Wales and he was the driving force
of this display, setting up two goals. He is very unfortunate now to miss the
semi-final with a harsh booking; his second of the competition.
2nd: Ashley Williams (Wales)
Every successful team needs a lionheart and Ashley Williams
leads by example as skipper of his country. He was an injury doubt after
damaging his shoulder against Northern Ireland but never showed it here.
Committed in leadership, strong in defence and got a rare goal which started
the Welsh march towards Lyon.
3rd: Hal Robson-Kanu (Wales)
Robson-Kanu produced one of the best individual moments of
these championships. His “Cruyff turn” to score the second
goal was immense. He left Reading at the end of last season. Surely he will be
playing Premier League football next term. Showed great skill and keeps running
from the kick-off. He is a fine example of a player willing to take his chance.
Comments
Post a Comment