Terry Medwin turned 90 a couple of months ago and has lived more than two-thirds of a long life with the distinction of being Wales’s last scorer in a World Cup. Not any more. As the sound of “Viva Gareth Bale” echoed around the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, a quintuple Champions League winner had added something he will prize more than many of his other achievements: a World Cup goal.
It was a goal that meant plenty, too, and not merely emotionally. Until he dispatched a penalty past Matt Turner, the United States were deservedly ahead, seemingly favourites, along with England, for a place in the last 16. Yet Wales can be characterised by dogged resistance and a refusal to give up. Fittingly, their old firm came to their rescue in their belated World Cup debuts: Aaron Ramsey fed Bale and Walker Zimmerman crunched into the veteran. The pressure was tangible but Bale drilled in his spotkick and, for the first time since 1958, Wales had a point at the World Cup. After six decades away, they had something to show for their return.
