Lyon: They were stunned. Of course, they were stunned. They were the underdogs, but they had never played like underdogs. Not for a moment at these finals; not for a moment on this occasion, either. Not with 20,000 fans descending on Lyon. Not with that thick wedge of supporters inside this arena. Not with Gareth Bale and his teammates out on the pitch, who tried to take the game to Portugal in what was, probably, the biggest night in Wales’s sporting history.
‘Together stronger’ was the message, the core, the bond. That Wales were so quickly undone by two second-half goals will have hurt the most; that a chink was so easily, sloppily found. Goals that, for all the magnificence of Cristiano Ronaldo’s header, could have easily been prevented.
Ronaldo outjumped James Chester direct from a corner; then Nani deflected Ronaldo’s cross-cum-shot into the net after James Collins had not heeded Ashley Williams’s call to step out and played the Portuguese onside.
The fans were stunned. They stood motionless. The songs started again, but it never quite felt the same. ‘Please don’t take me home’ felt plaintive. A little belief did, finally, go. Not just one goal, but two, in quick succession, and for a team with such desire that was still an incredible mountain to climb at this level.
In the Stade des Lumieres, the light did not go out, but it certainly dimmed. Up until that point it had not felt like a game too far for Wales; it had not felt like “settling for too little”, which their manager Chris Coleman contended they had done in the past, with the yoke of being a smaller nation who could not compete used as an excuse.
They did not settle for too little on Wednesday night, either, but they just did not have enough left.
“To go that extra mile, we have got to be a bit different to what has gone before,” Coleman said. And that was apparent. This was always going to be a different game than the rip-roaring quarter-final against Belgium, who played fast and loose, who tried to attack and were met toe-to-toe. This game always felt all the more dangerous for that. Portugal were never going to go for it. They had too much control; maybe too much game-management and a little cuteness.
Ugly ducklings, their own coach Fernando Santos had called them, and it was always going to be a far more cagey, far more tactical affair that maybe would come down to mistakes, taking that chance. Coleman has shown himself to be astute. Wales have not been about blood and thunder at this tournament and neither have they played like those underdogs.
This has not been a progress akin to Greece in 2004 or Denmark back in 1992, built on an iron, blanket defence and the ability to nick a goal. There is more structure and positivity to this Welsh team, led by Bale, but with a desire to get forward and create but not lose that discipline and shape. But lose it they did, however briefly, and it hurt them.
It will only be after this tournament that this Welsh achievement can be properly dealt with. A first major tournament for 58 years but not for a moment up until now had Wales played like novices as they reached the last four along with Portugal, Germany and France, nations accustomed to be here.
Just to be here. That was the message that so many of those Welsh fans had brought with them as justification for the expense, the journey and the hope. Just to be here. There were only 5,000 tickets available to each team — criminal, then, that there were such large pockets of empty seats — but the old team, the fan-zone, the whole city heaved in the heat for hours before kick-off. Their fans had captured this city. Not in an invasion, but in a happy gathering. They had arrived under a scorching sun, serenaded the locals, waved the surf of emotion. There was a sense of history unfolding; history maybe never again to be repeated for some time. So it hurt even more that they lost a bit of that discipline that they had harnessed so well. They missed the suspended Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies, who have been two of their best performers, and although neither Andy King nor Collins were poor, it was not quite the same. Coleman rang more changes, threw on more forward players and went for it as he had to. The fans eventually refound their voices but there was no way back for their team.
