How Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
How Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
Wales welcomed Ukraine to Cardiff for a tense match that would determine who would play in the World Cup in Qatar later this year, and the match did not disappoint.
|Wales has qualified for the Qatar World Cup for the first time since 1958 after defeating Ukraine.
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Wales’ bid to end their 64-year World Cup drought – the longest of any major European nation outside of the competition – was held in Cardiff City Stadium. Rob Page had access to all of the Dragons’ typical great players for what was likely the most important game of his managing career to date.
Last weekend, Gareth Bale and Real Madrid won the Champions League, but the 32-year-focus old’s quickly shifted to international issues as he sought to lead his country to the promised land.
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Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
With a free-kick from a long way out, the former Madrid star assisted the hosts in taking the lead. Bale’s effort went in off the head of former West Ham striker Andriy Yarmolenko, causing chaos among the home supporters.
Much of the background and pre-match discussion centered on the situation in Ukraine, following Russia’s recent invasion of the country, with several Wales players stating that they would not be taking their opponents lightly.
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Ukraine, on the other hand, had the best of the opening exchanges, forcing Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to make a number of saves in the first 30 minutes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, a Manchester City left-back, was used in midfield and did not look out of place.
Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
Gareth Bale’s deflected free-kick put Wales in front
The Etihad fan favourite thought he had put his country in front inside the opening five minutes, but his quickly taken free-kick was ruled out by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
With that being said, if Wales were fortunate to find themselves in front they certainly improved after the game’s opening goal. The contest suddenly became much more open – both sides wasting little time in launching their attacks.
Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
Ukraine can consider themselves unlucky to have not been awarded a spot-kick as the first-half drew to a close. Yarmolenko caught Joe Allen by surprise and was kicked in the heel by the Stoke midfielder, but a lengthy VAR review spared Wales’ blushes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was left frustrated despite being one of the best players on the pitch
Aaron Ramsey had the chance to put some real daylight between the two teams shortly after the interval after a delightful Wales move, but the ex-Arsenal man failed to hit the target from close range and in turn let Ukraine off the hook.
Roman Yaremchuk was guilty of something similar for Ukraine just minutes later, the 26-year-old Benfica striker firing wide from no more than six yards out after Yarmolenko’s effort was parried back into danger by shot-stopper Hennessey.
Nerves were only heightened further when both Brennan Johnson and Bale spurned good chances, the former of the two striking the frame of the goal as another opportunity to end the tie as a contest was passed up by Wales.
Despite relentless pressure from Ukraine, inspired form from Hennessey and some resilient defending ensured Wales held on for a historic victory and seal their place among the world’s best later this year.
Wales Qualified For First World Cup In 64 Years With Victory Over Ukraine
Gareth Bale led the celebrations at full-time
The full-time whistle triggered emotional scenes from both sets of players and supporters, with tears from both Wales and Ukraine stars. Ramsey struggled to contain his emotion while Bale sprinted from the dugout to join in the on-pitch celebrations.
Fighting back tears while conducting his post-match media duties, Ramsey told Sky Sports how it felt to be going to Qatar: “Unbelievable, unbelievable. To get to three major tournaments now and top it off with the World Cup is something else.”
His sentiments were echoed by teammate Connor Roberts, who added: “Unbelievable, personally I never even thought I’d play for Wales so to play for Wales at a World Cup is unthinkable to be honest. Hopefully I can have a decent start to the season and get out to Qatar.”
