John Hartson: Chris Coleman and Wales players have done country proud with their sensational Euro 2016 performances
THEY say pride comes before a fall.
Well, I hope that’s not the case for this Wales team now.
Because it will hurt like hell if we hit the deck from way up here.
What a four weeks it’s been.
And what a shame it had to come to an end with last night’s semi-final defeat to Portugal.
In all my time playing, talking or writing about football, I’ve never known anything like it.
The feeling of pride I have in these lads is just incredible.
They’ve been outstanding. I have a tinge of disappointment as Wales thought they could win this.
Ben Davies and Aaron Ramsey were missing and they were big losses. We had to make changes.
No blame on the lads that came in but I’m a bit disappointed. We showed fight and character as we have shown throughout.
But the two goals after the break knocked the stuffing out of us.
And what next for manager Chris Coleman?
Wales are lucky to have him in charge of the team and I hope that doesn’t change any time soon.
He could probably have his pick of jobs after this.
One Belgium reporter asked him on Tuesday if he fancied taking over from their national boss, Marc Wilmots.
Cookie just laughed it off but deep down he’ll love that, given he was out of work a couple of years ago.
This is a guy who had to go to Greece just to get a job when English clubs weren’t interested.
Now there are even questions from the Press about whether he would consider managing England!
That goes to show how much his reputation and stock has soared.
And quite rightly so.
To think this was Wales’ first major tournament since 1958 is just unbelievable. We have played like experienced campaigners who know what it’s all about at the very highest level.
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Well, we sure as hell do now. Wales are a team to be reckoned with — the performances and results simply back that up no end.
I’ll be honest, I came to France at the beginning of June not quite knowing what to expect.
I hoped our boys would do themselves justice but, at the back of my mind, I wondered if they could.
They were in a tough group initially. Had we lost that opening game to Slovakia then who knows how things would have turned out.
I’m not so sure we’d have gone as far. But we did win it and we did get through to the knockouts.
Even then I wasn’t quite sure.
But this team just keeps surprising people and they did that against Belgium with one of the finest performances I’ve seen from a Wales team in all my life.
I was fortunate enough to return from France to Wales for a few days after that victory.
It meant I was able to see the pride and joy on the faces of everyone back home and that was special in itself.
Then there are our fans in France.
It hasn’t just been our team that’s done us proud but also the punters who have come along — it must have cost them a fortune.
The hotel prices are through the roof and that’s even before they put their hands in their pockets to buy a pint.
But in all the booze that got poured down their necks there has been barely a hint of trouble.
They partied win, lose or draw and that’s why they’ll be welcomed back to France long after this tournament is over.
But it’s on the pitch that I’ve watched a team raise their game to a level I didn’t think was possible.
Their team spirit was there for all to see and an example to players of how far it can take you.
Together Stronger is a motto that can go from strength to strength for Welsh football.