Wales

I didn’t write a Euro 2016 blog yesterday. There hadn’t been a game for a couple of days and it seemed like a good day to take a break. I’d normally write the blog around eleven in the morning and post it shortly after that. But around the same time, Michael Gove said he’d run for the leadership of the Tory party, Boris Johnson backed out of the same race and the meeting that had been called to demonstrate Labours commitment to fight anti-semitism was derailed by the leader making what could be construed as an anti-semitic comment. Subsequently, my Twitter account lost it’s mind for a couple of hours and I just thought a quirky football blog might get lost in the general excitement.
The thought of Portugal v Poland that evening was not exactly one to stir the blood. Poland are a workmanlike team with only one recognisable star and pretty much the same could be said for Portugal. No-one was predicting a thriller although even then, I think we were all surprised by how bad it actually was. And for Portugal to have reached the semi-finals without having won a single game within ninety minutes is quite impressive if you’re impressed by that sort of thing. Which I’m not.
Tonight has much more potential. Wales and Belgium have a lovely contrast in styles and there’s something great about these two teams meeting in the quarter finals having come out of the same qualifying group. Wales had the upper hand in those games and Gareth Bale has said that beating them at home was the moment that this team moved to the next level. Although I’d suggest that the moment Mrs Bale gave birth to a phenomenal athlete like Gareth might also be considered very significant.
Wales are definitely not a one man team but Bale is an enormous talent who has made a huge contribution on and off the pitch. He’s the one who seems to be doing most of the press conferences. Partly, it’s because he’d be the one player that all the press have heard of but also because he’s a natural. There are no Welsh FA minders sitting next to him and reminding him what the company line is. He just sits there, a man who knows he’s one of the best players in the world, gently taking the piss out of England. And more importantly, he scored against Slovakia, scored against England, scored and assisted a goal against Russia and provided the cross that Northern Ireland’s Gareth Macauley knocked into his own net. It’s safe to say that without him, Wales would not be in the quarter finals. Or even in France.
But having said all that, there is something very together about this Wales squad. Most of them have grown up together and that must help. Also, they’ve been through the massive trauma of Gary Speed dying and the bond they’ve formed seems very strong indeed. I genuinely hope they go all the way although Hazard and De Bruyne are massive obstacles to that happening. I’m just hoping that’s it better than Portugal v Poland.