It was perhaps the best indicator of an unforgettable evening and, fortunately, even in defeat, there was a happy ending. The supporter who went tumbling from the upper tier to the lower tier as he celebrated Wales pulling level at 3-3 against Belgium on Monday, having trailed 3-0 after 27 minutes, was treated at hospital and got off lightly, the only lasting damage a minor broken bone in his back. “Sore this morning, mind,” 29-year-old Scott Rees posted on social media. Another supporter, in Block B of the King Baudouin Stadium, saw his wallet gain wings after Brennan Johnson’s headed equaliser.
It was that kind of night in Brussels. It was a strange one, too, given it was hard for any of the 4,500 travelling supporters to be too downbeat despite ultimately losing the game 4-3, an unmarked Kevin De Bruyne bypassing Johnson to ghost in at the back post to snatch an 88th-minute winner. It was not a defeat without any ramifications – Wales are now second in Group J behind North Macedonia and Belgium will surely be favourites to qualify for the World Cup from here – but it was one where pride quickly trumped any disappointment. Stoke’s Sorba Thomas perhaps put it best. “They thought it was done,” said the winger. “We showed the Welsh fight, the Welsh fire.”
