Dai (@Colemans_dream) takes a look at Cymru’s World Cup 2022.
I have wanted to write a few words on how Wales fared in Qatar and the issues around it for a while, but haven’t quite been able to put it in a coherent manner. Very often, the emotion of these things can get in the way of sensible thought.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe reality is however, that the World Cup and football in general, especially when it comes to international football, is steeped in emotion. You only have to look at the needle between the players in the Argentina Netherlands game, the tears on Moroccan faces in the stadium or a Jason Cundy meltdown, to recognise that emotion leads the way. That shouldn’t be forgotten in all of this from a Welsh perspective.
Embed from Getty ImagesI’ve seen a lot of people state that the victory over Ukraine was our World Cup. It wasn’t. That was a highlight of the journey possibly, but that wasn’t IT. That view takes away from the wonderful scenes of our national anthem being broadcast all over the world. It takes away from the moment of sheer jubilation when Gareth Bale’s penalty hit the back of the American net. It brushes away the pain of the Iran and England defeat. I don’t want to lose that pain. We waited 64 years for that pain.
Embed from Getty ImagesGetting to the World Cup may have been the moment, but what was achieved by going to Qatar was something special, and that shouldn’t be taken away from us as a country or us as fans, and crucially those players who got us there. We’ve earned the right to feel that frustration. We finally got invited to the party we’ve peered over the fence at for years. We may not have left with any silverware, but only one country will. That isn’t what this is about for us. We should never forget what has happened in the last month. It will forever be a special moment in both cultural and footballing terms.
The FAW celebrated our history with Dafydd Iwan’s stunning video. Our own footballing subculture was celebrated in Qatar with the bucket hat being an ever present. We did what no footballing Welsh person has ever done before and sung our national anthem, rather than that of those next door. We perhaps cannot celebrate what happened on the pitch, but what happened off it was seismic and almost as important as what happened on those lush green Qatari pitches.
We shouldn’t ignore the on pitch issues however. Rob Page has a plethora of excuses to support him, but he did set up our side ineffectively in every game, in my view. He cannot hide from the 1 win in 7 tournament matches. Nor can he avoid the fact that he will have to be the man who manages the end of the greatest ever Welsh footballers international career.
Embed from Getty ImagesPage’s job should be under no threat though. He earned that 4-year contract, and three iffy games in a World Cup should not change that. Whilst I maintain my uncertainty about him at the top level, a question mark that any potential replacement would also have by the way, Page has done a magnificent job and should be able to lead this nation into its next phase – a transitionary one.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs I mentioned, Robert Page has to manage the end of Gareth Bale’s magical international career. Possibly one or two others as well. The mark of a good manager is how they rebuild a team and Page has a large rebuilding job on his hands.
He also needs to settle on a style of play and formation which suits who we have now, and who we will base our team around in the coming years. It’s a tough task, but can Page balance the end of Bale and the beginning of Brennan, whilst continuing to get the most from someone like Ethan Ampadu? Younger players need to be blooded too – it is some task.
Embed from Getty ImagesI hope the FAW, famed for its coaching courses, can support Page in this. Does he need a Director of Football type, to help him with the fundamentals of the transition – someone who has done this before for a different nation? Perhaps we can support Page tactically through one of the coaching courses or support the manager in terms of new experiences abroad or at home so that he can develop his tactical nous at a top level.
What cannot happen is that the FAW and Page just “get on with it”. I worry that this time has an end of an era feel about it. That ending needs to be managed in several ways, and it needs a happy ending.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe end of an era feels a poignant way to end this. I do feel we are there, and I worry the road ahead is a bumpy one. There will be disappointing defeats and frustrating performances, but we as fans must believe in the Together Stronger mantra. That phrase is emotive during times of success, and powerful in times of struggle. We shouldn’t forget that when the difficult performances return.
This has been an unforgettable time though. After the defeat to England, I had a quiet moment to myself when my pals had gone home and the defeat had been dissected. As the dancing Dutch partied around me, after their qualification to the knockouts had been confirmed, I sat and thought about all we have witnessed over the last 8 years or so. I shed a tear.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis glorious independent football nation started the 2016 campaign, and this era, with a Gareth Bale brace out in Andorra. From highlights against Belgium in the rain, to the Zombie Nation awakening with that wonderful header late into a summer’s night in Cyprus, we’ve been on some journey. Rain soaked glory in Zenica, Hal’s scuff in Bordeaux and wonder goal in Lille. Semi-final in France, a confused crowd singing Moore’s name after Ramsey’s towering header against Hungary, that wonderful win against Turkey in 2021 and those magical unforgettable nights in Cardiff against Austria and Ukraine.
Embed from Getty ImagesI, and I’d say we, have always said we crave those games. The ones that really matter. Not only have we experienced them, but we’ve broken through the glass ceiling which it felt was trapping us and burst through it victorious. Several times.
There’s no glass ceiling anymore. This team, these players and this great group who work in the FAW have made sure of that. The door to this sparkling place we always wanted to visit after years of dreaming about what it looked like, is now closing. The evenings shadow cast long into the room, and the glittering ornaments inside start to lose their magical lustre. They’re still there though. They will always glow in that place and time, and in our minds.
Embed from Getty ImagesNow we have to look towards illuminating a new place, and look forward to the next memorable moment and remarkable person. They will emerge, and they will open more doors and we will drink and dance when they do. This generation wasn’t a golden one, they are better than that.
This trip to Qatar was one of the peaks of my footballing supporting life, and something I never thought I’d experience. I am thankful for everything that these superhumans have done for us and our country. The World Cup wasn’t the end of this era. It was just the start of a new one.