Dai looks at his funny old week, leading into the game in Amsterdam.
It’s been a funny week. It started off with a mad scramble for tickets. It’s ended with so many tickets that were giving some away for charity. Along that journey has involved a few interviews for the radio, the TV, and a gentle ribbing from Elis James in the Guardian.
Of all the questions I’ve been asked, there is one which always keeps recurring. How do you feel to be going to the game? It’s an interesting question because having gone to Wales football games for such a long time in person, it’s now been an incredibly long time without one. The geography of where I live has often meant that it has not been particularly easy to get tickets, or even get to matches so the fact that I can go to one now, on my doorstep is very exciting. The question of how you feel about going to a match it’s bigger than just excitement. I should be doing this with my best mates. I should be doing this making new mates, in the red wall. And instead there is 25 or so of us likely to be representing Wales, along with the 11 players on the pitch. It goes to remind you that going to a football match is more than just sitting in the stadium and hoping you win. Going to the football is about the day, it’s about the event, it’s about the atmosphere, it’s about the people, it’s about the noises, the smells and questionable expensive beer. I can’t describe how it will feel to be back at a football ground again. The anthem is going to be incredible, and being close to that stretch of green again watching our boys in red play will be a genuinely overwhelming feeling.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt is worth remembering that there is still a football match going on, in the knockout stages of an international tournament, and Wales are involved. That’s much more important then any radio interviews I’ve done this week. For Wales to be in the last 16 of an international tournament, again, is something to cherish. It’s not about us being happy to be here, enjoying the moment. It’s about us making the most of the opportunities that we wanted for years and years and years, and we finally now have. Denmark are a very solid team. And I feel desperately sorry for them and Christian Eriksen in regards to what has happened to them this tournament. If you want to talk about feeling things, the Danes both as fans and players, have felt more than most in the last few weeks. It is very difficult to not want them to succeed after everything they have been through from a neutral perspective. With that said I think we have an excellent chance of defeating a strong team, and continuing our own journey into the quarter-finals.
Embed from Getty ImagesI sincerely hope that our excited, positive, and exhilarated feelings continue in the next few weeks. It would all begin with a slightly bizarre football match in Amsterdam, one that I cannot wait to watch. So keep an eye out for me, and a few other bricks in the red wall who will be at the game. We will do our best to represent you. And we will do our best to make sure that we are not out sung. Whatever happens this promises to be a truly memorable weekend – one I’m exceptionally excited for, and one that I’m exceptionally proud to be a part of.
I feel very lucky to be going to this match, I am incredibly excited to watch our heroes play, with a new band of match going mates. It won’t be the same, but it doesn’t need to be the same. It’s all about evolving. We are evolving as a football nation, we are evolving as a football team, and in this weird world that UEFA have made for us, we are evolving as football fans too.
Embed from Getty ImagesI feel nervously excited to see how our current players will evolve and adapt to the new situation awaiting them on Saturday. We have the star quality, the backs to the wall mentality, and solid defensive base to build on. We don’t have too many fans backing the boys but we’ll make ourselves heard one way or another. In the words of Chris Coleman, we may be a small nation, but when it comes to passion, we are continent. We can prove this yet again tomorrow night.
Come on Wales.