Wales Secures the World Cup, Beats Ukraine 1-0 in the Playoffs

History was made tonight in Cardiff, where Wales beat Ukraine to reach the World Cup after 64 years. The Dragons eliminated Ukraine with a minimal win, 1-0, thus making it the biggest success of this generation. It was a back-and-forth battle between two solid teams, but in the end, the hosts prevailed.

The Welsh players were overwhelmed with joy, and there was a massive celebration on the pitch.

“It’s the greatest result in history for Welsh football,” Bale told Sky Sports. It means everything. It’s what dreams are made of. I’m speechless because I’m so happy. Words can’t describe how we feel at the moment,” stated Gareth Bale.

WALES HAVE REACHED THE WORLD CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 64 YEARS! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿👏 pic.twitter.com/GuAYlDcA4E

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 5, 2022

Bale was the reason why his nation won tonight. His cross was deflected by the best Ukrainian player, Andriy Yarmolenko, in the 34th minute, and the ball ended in his own net. It was a tragic moment for one of the best-ever Ukrainian players.

On the other side, Bale gave everything he had, and the way he played tonight, we are pretty sure that the experienced winger has a place in any of the major European teams.

Ukraine had its chances, Roman Yaremchuk a few, and Yarmolenko as well. Wayne Hennessey’s superb reaction stopped Yaremchuck’s header from the goalkeeper area. He had nine saves in this one, boosting the morale and saving the Dragons on numerous occasions.

“The one thing these boys were missing was a World Cup and now we’ve got there,” Hennessey said.

Wales threatened through Brenan Johnson, who hit the post, while Aaron Ramsey wasted a solid counter-attack at the start of the second half. Overall, they waited for the rival’s mistake or an opportunity to strike from the transition, which is, in fact, their biggest weapon.

The last time this country visited the World Cup was in 1958, in Sweden, and ever since, the Dragons have missed the biggest football tournament, even though they had a few fantastic generations. We’ve seen them in the playoffs three times, against Scotland in 1977 and 1985 and Romania in 1993, and finally, they’ve gotten over this obstacle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIqvisUB48w&feature=youtu.be

This generation of players already broke one drought, which was in the 2016 EURO. They managed to reach one major tournament after 58 years of waiting, and back then, they had a sensational run that ended in the semifinals, against the hosts, France.

Four years later, we saw the Dragons at another EURO, and finally, they head for Qatar and the World Cup now.

They will be in Group B, with England, USA and Iran, and this might be one of the most interesting assemblies in Qatar. Wales knows England very well, and they did have a clash with the United States last year. For many of the analysts who were giving the early prognosis, Rob Page’s unit is not without chances in Qatar. One good game could propel them to the knockout stage, and we’ve already seen in the past that this generation knows how to play in big tournaments. Plus, Bale, Ramsey, and the boys have several youngsters ready to take over and step up when needed.

As for Ukraine, the hearts of most neutral fans were with them, but they couldn’t win two in a row against tough British teams. They beat Scotland in Glasgow last week, 1-3, and it seems that that game took a lot of energy from them. Still, they had solid chances, but simply, luck wasn’t with them tonight.