Day 30 - Wales Knock 'em Cold!

Big Match Day in Lille

It was good to have a night in a nice room again and not have to worry about doing anything particular in the morning, so I had a long lie-in. When I did get up, I took advantage of the excellent WiFi here and did some blogging and social media stuff. It's so good to be living in this modern, connected era. I can be in contact with people in Thailand, Kirkby, London and Australia all at the same time.

Eventually, I decided to go into the city to see if I could find a cheap Iceland shirt. I was also pretty hungry as I hadn't eaten last night.

I walked to the metro station and waited for the next train to the city along with quite a few others. Lille has the sliding doors system on the platform, which makes it much safer in terms of falling in front of a train. A train came and stopped and the doors slid open to reveal that every carriage was jam packed with people. No room for anyone to get on. The same thing was repeated for the next train. Many of the people on the train were football fans, presumably off to the city to soak up the atmosphere (and lots of alcohol.)

I decided not to carry on waiting but to walk into town instead. I was thinking of doing so anyway, so I'd know the way back so I don't have top use a taxi again if I ended up in town late again tomorrow night. It took about 35 minutes and the route is quite simple.

When I arrived in the city center I was taken aback by how many football fans there were - Belgians mainly, but plenty Welsh too. It was all friendly but it was very noisy and as I said before I'm not a big fan of chanting in public places.

Loud fans fill the streets of Lille in the hours before the game

I eventually found a nice restaurant that was open (as few that are well ranked on Trip Advisor were closed). I had pork ribs and salad, washed down with a glass of Shiraz. Very nice. Sat at the table next to me were a couple of Belgians.

Google translate on a mobile can read a menu in French and translate it in real time!

It's not just England fans that drink lots of beer and leave a mess

"Are you confident?" I said.

"Yes" said one. "50-50" said the other.

I said I thought Belgium would win, thus guaranteeing a Welsh victory.

Pork ribs

After that I walked to a sports shop, hoping to pick up a cheap Iceland shirt but they didn't have any. I could have bought a Russian or Sweden shirt cheaply, so I doubt they'd selling the Iceland shirts at low cost anyway. Worth a try.

Anyway, by now the metro station was massively packed with fans going to the match so I decided to walk back to the room. I picked up some provisions on the way back as it started to rain.

I got back here, got changed and checked the Google map to see how far it was to the stadium - 40 minutes walk. So, at 8pm I set off at a brisk pace. It's a very straightforward route from here to there and I made good time.

My 40 minute walk to the match

As I approached the ground, with just half an hour until kick off, it was a little worrying that there was literally no fans walking to the ground with me. This was a European Championship Quarter final, for heaven's sake! The sight of a helicopter flying ahead reassured me that everything was ok and, sure enough, suddenly there were two red shirted fans walking ahead of me, then some more and then hundreds and then thousands.

35 minutes till kick off, 1 km from the ground... where IS everyone?

The security was very tight and some fans got a bit frustrated by the careful checking as kick off time was approaching.

Finally, in the ground, and in my seat. And what a seat! Best view so far. On the side of the ground, near the half way line, not too far from the front - almost my ideal spot. I was sat next to two Belgium fans but there were two Welshmen in front of me.

The Belgian anthem was first, with the words displayed on the big screen in three languages. Then it was Wales' turn. How I wished I knew the words to "Land of My Father" so I could join in. Instead I just Izzarded it.

Belgium 1 Wales 3

This was a hum-dinger of a match and was gripping from start to finish. Belgium flew at Wales from the start and it looked like Wales might get hammered. In the 13th minute the died moheekan-haired, daft-looking dude that plays for Roma, Radja Nainggolan, found himself in a bit of space in front of the penalty area and unleashed an absolute beauty that rocketed past Hennessey into the top corner.

Three Welsh players got booked in the first half an hour and the thought crossed my mind that at this rate there could be a sending off and, with 10 against 11, Wales would surely get blown away if that happened.

Wales did not lie down and roll over though. They managed to fight their way back into the game and had a couple of decent chances before defender Ashley Williams headed in to equalise. They continued to press and looked the more likely to score as half time approached.

The mood in the crowd was buzzing with excitement at half time and I was so pleased to be there and, even though I'm not a proper Wales fan. I kept thinking of Elaine Morgan and what she might say. "Knock 'em Cold kid!", I'm sure.

Elaine Morgan - my main Welsh inspiration - at her home in Mountain Ash

Well that is what Wales did in the second half. Belgium again came at them, strongly to start with but this time they failed to score and Wales attacked too. Suddenly the ball was at Robson-Kanu's feet, he twisted one way, then the other and the ball was still at his feet, despite a couple of Belgian defenders paying very close attention. Miraculously, suddenly, a space opened up and - bang - it was in the back of the net. 2-1 to Wales!

Chris Gunter - ex-Forest player who's cross made the third 

The Welsh fans errupted and the Belgians fell silent. Now, the favourites started to stutter and struggle - a bit like England did against Iceland. Each and every player in the Belgian team is a massive star but they seemed to lose all their confidence now. Their manager, Wilmots made a couple of substitutions but they really didn't threaten Wales too much in the second half.

Instead, with just 5 minutes on the clock remaining, a nippy attacking run by ex-Forest player, Chris Gunter found himself in space on the right. He whipped in a beautiful cross and substitute Sam Vokes (on for the tiring Robson-Kanu) leaped high and flicked in a beautiful header to seal the win.

Did I just witness that?

3-1 Wales. The fans went wild and, not surprisingly sang "Are you watching, England?" a few times. I even joined in on one - just for Gerry, Simon, Jake and Dougie! There were great scenes of celebration at the end. This is what it must have been like for the Iceland fans after the England games and, knowing exactly what the Belgians were feeling, I started going round saying how sorry I was for them and trying to console them.

It was a horrible night for Belgium but justice was done, especially considering how horrible their kit was (one of the ugliest ever, surely).

Belgium - Horrible kit, horrible night

What an amazing match and what a brilliant win for Wales. What a privilege to witness it. Once again, the team that was most compact and organised won. Belgium have all the stars but they were second best on the day. Like England, they seemed to be gripped by fear once Wales had gone ahead.

What a night!

I think I've now seen the two best games of this tournament.

So, it'll be Gareth Bale v Cristiano Ronaldo in the semi final in Lyon next week. Wales really must feel they can beat Portugal now and get to the blinking final. Incredible!

After the match I walked back here, having stopped in MacDonalds first, and chatted to two England fans from Liverpool and Chester. Like me, they were still buzzing about such a brilliant history-making game.

Aljice

Lille