Wales’ fairytale journey at Euro 2016 ended in frustration on Wednesday, July 6, as Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo inspired his side to an insipid 2-0 semi-final victory.
Two goals in quick succession sucker-punched Chris Coleman’s side, and proved just enough to see Portugal through to their first European Championship final since 2004.
Ronaldo’s towering header put Portugal ahead on 50 minutes, before Nani doubled their lead three minutes later.
The second-half deficit proved too large for a Wales side, ruing the absences of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies through suspension, to overcome, and ended their participation at a first international competition in 58 years.
Wales arrived in Lyon on an emotive wave of optimism as the darlings of the tournament, having produced a stunning 3-1 win against Belgium to reach the semi-final stage.
By contrast, Portugal went into the match having failed to win any of their previous games in normal time, and after a fraught first half, it took an overdue moment of quality from Cristiano Ronaldo to break the deadlock.
Following a short corner, left-back Raphael Guerreiro floated the ball into the box, and Ronaldo seemed to hang in mid air, before thumping a header past Wayne Hennessey.
It was a stunning goal, and seemed to spring the game into life. Wales could perhaps be found guilty of momentarily switching off at the set piece, and things got worse three minutes later, as Nani turned in Ronaldo’s scuffed effort, leaving Hennessey stranded.
Ronaldo’s Madrid teammate Gareth Bale looked Wales’ biggest threat throughout the match, but as the clock ticked on, his contributions were reduced to speculative shots from distance.
The linking ability of Caerphilly-born midfielder Ramsey was obvious in absence, and the defensive shape that had served Chris Coleman so well in the previous rounds was abandoned, as attackers Simon Church, Sam Vokes and Jonny Williams were all thrown on for one last roll of the dice.
While victory, and a route into the final, may have escaped Wales’ grasp, this is a team that has provided so much more than just 90-minute performances on a football pitch.
This is a team that has not only captured the hearts of its passionate nation, but inspired and gained fans and plaudits across the continent through shows of immense teamwork, friendship, and a strength in togetherness.
The aftermath of this loss will hurt, but a new dawn in Welsh football has broken.
Bale summed it up at the end of the match when he said: “We’ve had a taste of it now and we look forward to the future. We have confidence. We don’t want to turn up to one tournament, it’s about the bigger picture.”