Sports

Welsh reaches Euro semi-final

Welsh football fans have hailed the 3-1 Euro 2016 win against Belgium as Wales’ greatest ever victory.Chris Coleman’s team made history by winning their quarter-final match at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille on Friday.It secured Wales’ place in their first ever semi-final in a major tournament.Wales fans said they were ‘in dreamland’ with many now hoping to travel to Lyon to watch the team take on Portugal on Wednesday, 6 July.By winning the match against Belgium, Wales went one better than their 1958 predecessors who reached the last eight of the World Cup.Aled Lewis, 28, of Cardiff, who watched in the Lille fan zone, said it was above any other Welsh football achievement.He said: ‘We’re in the semi-final of a Euros tournament. It’s absolutely unbelievable. Martin Naughton, 28, of Cardiff, said: ‘It has to be the greatest win in Welsh football history.’He added: ‘It’s a once in a lifetime experience. We will never, ever, ever experience this again.’Mr Naughton said he was among Wales fans delayed by problems on the Eurotunnel but the victory had made it all worth it. Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes scored after Wales went 1-0 down in the first half.The win came after Wales qualified top of Group B in France after victories against Slovakia and Russia and a loss to England. They then beat Northern Ireland in the second round.The achievement follows 58 years of being in the wilderness for Welsh football in terms of qualifying formajor finals.Cardiff fan zone erupted when Ashley Williams scores Wales’ first goal against Belgium Geraint Thomas, a 51-year-old Wales fan from Menai Bridge on Anglesey, who travelled to Lille, said Friday’s result was ‘getting close’ to topping any other in the annals of Welsh football.About 20,000 Welsh fans were believed to have travelled to Lille to support the team. There were also fan zones in Cardiff, Newport, Pontypridd and on Anglesey.The Football Supporters’ Federation Cymru believe up to 100,000 Welsh fans have visited France to follow the team’s matches in Bordeaux, Lens, Toulouse, Paris and Lille.If Wales can beat Portugal, they would face either Germany, Italy, France or Iceland in the final.