The Cardiff City Stadium echoed to the sound of a song rarely heard in Madrid. “Viva Gareth Bale” rang out as the man himself bounced up and down before the crowd noticed that, amid an ungainly jig, he was pointing to his goalkeeper and close friend. They heeded his advice and switched their attentions to saluting Wayne Hennessey instead. If Bale took Wales to the World Cup, so did Hennessey, whose nine saves included a stunning stop from Artem Dovbyk. A veteran of 102 caps, he has only made two league appearances in as many years. He traded the role of understudy for that of national hero. “Magnificent, world class,” said his manager, Robert Page. That description is rarely applied to Hennessey, who is normally found on the Burnley bench. For 90 minutes, it may have been true.
Bale’s former club Real Madrid once had a policy of ‘Zidanes y Pavones’, of Zinedine Zidane and Francisco Pavon, of Galacticos and cut-price mediocrities. It did not work. Rather more happily, Wales have a team of Bales and Hennesseys, of the stars and their support acts, all savouring the time spent in each other’s company. “You don’t normally get that at international level,” said Page. “They are not just colleagues, they are best friends as well.” The Bale-Hennessey bromance is symbolic of a marriage between the best and the rest. Wales ended up arm-in-arm on the pitch, the whole squad providing the backing vocals to Dafydd Iwan’s anthem Yma o Hyd; it translates as “Still Here” and the 78-year-old singer is among the minority of Wales fans old enough to remember when they were last at a World Cup, 64 years ago. This is another achievement that will be remembered for decades. “The result is the greatest in Welsh football history,” Bale said and if the boys of 1958 may disagree, he could be forgiven the slight exaggeration. It felt a product of teamwork, of a unity that transcended individual shortcomings. Some of the inspiration for beating Ukraine stemmed from a game of cricket in the training camp, some from a quintuple Champions League winner, some from a former Northampton and Port Vale manager who was keen to deflect the credit.
