Wales striker Kieffer Moore wants World Cup qualification to provide the perfect hat-trick after he celebrated reaching the Premier League by getting engaged to girlfriend Charlotte Russell.
Bournemouth striker Moore fired the Cherries into the top flight with the promotion-sealing winner against Nottingham Forest earlier this month.
The 29-year-old then jetted off for a short break to Dubai, where he proposed to Charlotte and captured the moment in pictures posted on his Instagram account.
Moore popped the question by getting down on one knee in front of a big ‘marry me’ sign.
“It’s been a long time coming what with Covid and the Euros,” Moore said of his engagement from Wales’ training camp in Portugal.
“I have been meaning to do it sooner, but it just felt like the right time and the right moment.”
Moore has had a whirlwind few weeks after being sidelined for over two months with a broken foot.
The injury came within a few minutes of the 6ft 5ins forward making his Bournemouth debut following a January move from Cardiff.
Moore missed Wales’ World Cup play-off victory over Austria in March, but scored four goals in as many games as the Cherries returned to the Premier League after a two-season absence.
He said: “I have played nowhere near as much football this season as I wanted to, and it was a tough road getting back with all the rehab and everything I had to overcome.
“But to score those goals at the end of the season and get promoted to the Premier League was amazing.
Playing at a World Cup is the pinnacle and it would mean everything
“I feel really good. The break has helped me get rid of a lot of niggles I was dealing with throughout the season and feeling in great form.”
Wales start their Nations League campaign in Poland on Wednesday.
But all thoughts are on the play-off final against Scotland or Ukraine in Cardiff the following Sunday, with Wales one win away from ending a 64-year wait to play at a World Cup.
“Playing at a World Cup is the pinnacle and it would mean everything,” said Moore, whose well-travelled career has taken him to football outposts such as Dorchester, Truro and Norwegian club Viking.
“If I could do that in the same year as playing in the Premier League then it’s an amazing achievement. It would be a pinch myself moment.
“I scored a goal to help take Bournemouth back into the Premier League and I’m definitely dreaming of scoring the winner to take Wales to the World Cup.”
The March postponement of the Scotland-Ukraine game has allowed Moore to regain fitness for a World Cup play-off decider he would have originally missed.
He said: “I’m very lucky to be able to play in this game. I got injured for the first one, when unforeseen things happened, but thankfully I’ve now got the chance to play my part.
“I’m very happy about that. Scoring the goal that takes your nation to the World Cup is what everyone is dreaming of.”
