This was never going to be an occasion short of lasting images. Perhaps the most memorable from a night Wales will always treasure was the sight of Gareth Bale singing along to Yma o Hyd as the entire squad, some wearing tricolour bucket hats that are a nod to their last appearance at a World Cup in 1958, all moonlighting as Dafydd Iwan’s backing choir, swayed to the soundtrack of their journey to Qatar. Tony Roberts, the goalkeeping coach who rushed to Wayne Hennessey at the final whistle following his heroic performance and led the team on an impromptu conga down the tunnel, played the role of conductor.
After a glossary of painful near-misses, Wales will again play on the world stage after edging out Ukraine in a nail-biting and fraught playoff final.
From Bale being deep in conversation with Oleksandr Zinchenko seconds after the final whistle to all four sides of this stadium applauding Ukraine as they trudged off the pitch, emotions were, understandably, in overdrive. Then there was Aaron Ramsey pulling his shirt over his head, fresh from clutching his son, wearing a replica No 10 shirt, in his arms. Connor Roberts collapsed to the floor and repeatedly punched the air in a state of disbelief. Daniel James piggy-backed a member of backroom staff. Bale blew kisses towards his family. Robert Page beat his chest.
Perhaps the moment reality struck was when Wales’s players suddenly surged from the halfway line to slide on their torsos en masse before the Canton Stand, home to the “Red Wall”, though Ben Davies and Jonny Williams, busy celebrating at the opposite end of the stadium, had some ground to make up. That came after Ukraine’s players went over to a corner where their 1,700 fans were housed. A communal thunder clap of sorts followed and thousands of home supporters joined in what was another moving moment. In their dressing room Ukraine’s players displayed a flag scribbled with handwritten messages from soldiers. The Football Association of Wales, which estimates qualification is worth around £10m, also gave 100 tickets to Ukrainian refugees.
For Page, sticking with Hennessey was a big call but ultimately an inspired one. The 35-year-old Burnley goalkeeper, who celebrated his 100th cap for his country in March, made a series of improbable saves, the pick of the bunch surely the sprawling left-hand stop to deny the substitute Artem Dovbyk heading in Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross late on.
Ben Davies was outstanding in defence and there was no way Neco Williams was going to be on the losing side, throwing his body on the line into five minutes of second-half stoppage time to prevent Andriy Yarmolenko from finding an equaliser. It seemed cruel that Yarmolenko’s first-half own goal, from a devilish Bale free-kick, would prove the difference. Ukraine must somehow regroup, while Wales can start preparing for England, Iran and USA in Group B.
Immediately after the goal, Davies tapped his temples, urging calm among his teammates, and with good reason. Ukraine were desperately unlucky not be in front and should have had a first-half penalty. From the moment Zinchenko had a quick free-kick disallowed on three minutes, they panicked Wales and the midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi picked holes in the home defence. Davies embodied Wales’s spirit. The defender made a block with 15 minutes to play when Yarmolenko side-footed the ball goalwards after Ukraine scooped the ball into the box.
At the same time, a minute earlier Wales could have doubled their advantage. The substitute Brennan Johnson, who will surely play a big part at the finals, struck a post and seconds later, after another surge by Johnson, Bale was denied by the Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan after meeting Ramsey’s twirling cross. Ramsey was also guilty of missing a wonderful opening early in the second half, placing his shot wide after collecting Kieffer Moore’s centre.
Iwan, the Welsh folk singer, was moved up the pecking order before kick-off and received a hero’s welcome before his first rendition of Yma o Hyd. Ukraine’s players, who again sung the national anthem draped in their national flags, were applauded by the Welsh fans who had a front-row seat of their final warmup shuttle runs. “Tonight, now is our time,” the stadium announcer predicted before an inevitably stirring rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. How he was right.
Ukraine’s head coach, Oleksandr Petrakov, his glasses condensed with rainwater and jacket sodden, had no complaints with his team but could feel aggrieved at how, five minutes before the break, the video assistant referee did not tell the referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, to take a closer look at a collision between Joe Allen and Yarmolenko. Allen, caught cold by Yarmolenko’s shuffle towards the ball, clearly clipped the Ukraine captain’s heels in the box but play instead continued. Moments earlier, Hennessey rushed across to his near post to keep out a rattled drive at goal from Zinchenko.
Wales rode their luck, but they will fly their flag in Qatar. There was a feverish atmosphere before kick-off and nothing remotely close to a lull from start to finish.
