The World Cup won’t feature the side most of the planet wanted. Far crueller things have happened to Ukraine this year but they were denied the expression of a nation’s identity and excellence that a place in the World Cup provides; denied, sadly, by one of their own. But if Wales had rarely been more unpopular outside their own country’s borders, after a 64-year exile, they could not afford to be sentimental. For six decades, the last player to score against them on the global stage has remained a teenage Pele. All of that will change now. The class of 1958 are no longer the only Welshmen to qualify for the World Cup and it is a colossal achievement by Robert Page and his band of brothers.
If this represents the crowning glory of Gareth Bale’s career, if it means he and Aaron Ramsey are not destined to join Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs among the great Wales players who are denied the chance to show their talents alongside the world’s best, it was unsurprising the captain played a part in the goal that carries them to Qatar.
