On a frenzied night of red shirts, bucket hats and steadying drink, Gareth Bale gave the fans a once in a lifetime experience
As the full-time whistle blew during our scruffy 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Euro 2016, the older man behind me was weeping at the prospect of watching Wales in the quarter-final of a major championship. I performatively puffed out my cheeks and raised an eyebrow, in that way people do after reading a BuzzFeed article about how many egg whites Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson eats in a day.
Feeling we had sufficiently bonded over Gareth McAuley’s own goal, and as he seemed to be in his 60s, I asked if he remembered Wales reaching the quarter- finals of our only World Cup appearance in 1958. “No,” he replied. “I was three.”
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