Of course there were tears. Congratulations to the winners from Wales. But those of the losers made a little more impression. There was much more than sadness on the faces of the Ukrainian players, who of course regretted not going to the World Cup in Qatar, but also cried for everything else.
Ukrainian captain Andrej Jarmolenko, in particular, seemed inconsolable in the pouring rain in Cardiff. It was his masterly, unfortunate header into his own goal that left Ukraine 1-0 behind. He had another chance to equalize, but the ball just didn’t go in. It remained at that 1-0 and so Wales will go to the World Cup, for the first time in 64 years.
That is not undeserved. Although the Welsh were lucky with the goal, which came after a free kick from captain Gareth Bale, and Ukraine should have been given a penalty. Because it was indeed an accident, but Jarmolenko – him again – was indeed hit in the penalty area. But Wales also had great opportunities, shot at the post and was just daring against the Ukrainians.
intransigence
Of course they in turn deserved more, much more. Although there was also criticism at home about the decision to play football in wartime, this team mainly provided a bit of hope and distraction. Encouraged by reports from frontline soldiers, it grew into another symbol of Ukraine’s intransigence.
And that while a large part of the selection has hardly played this year. After the Russian invasion of the country, the competition had to be stopped and clubs such as Shachtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv were no longer in action. The internationals, who do not play in Western Europe, have been training in Slovenia since April 30, at the invitation of UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. They had not had more than a few practice matches against clubs before they had to play in the first play-off game against Scotland on Wednesday.
That match was still won, after which hopes only grew, but there was also something at stake for Wales. In the run-up to the game, the big star Bale said that while everyone felt great sympathy for the Ukrainians, it was really a football game on Sunday evening. “We want to win,” he added for clarity.
gun factor
Under normal circumstances, the gun factor would probably have turned out in favor of Wales. The small football country, with about 3 million inhabitants, is almost always in the shadow of the big British brother England, just like Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Of the three British little ones, Wales was the least likely to qualify for the World Cup: only once before and that was more than sixty years ago. In 1958 Wales was there in Sweden and that in itself was a small miracle.
After being eliminated from the qualifying group, a war provided a second chance. Due to the Suez crisis, Egypt, Sudan and Indonesia did not want to play against Israel. FIFA then declared Israel the winner of its group, but also decided that the country still had to play a play-off against one of the numbers two from Europe. Wales came out lucky and defeated Israel.
Once in Sweden, Wales also reached the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by the later winner Brazil. It was 1-0, by Pelé who scored his first international goal at the age of 17.
Gareth Bale
Only sixteen countries took part at the time, there have been 32 since 1998, but Wales failed to qualify for all those decades. Great players such as Ryan Giggs, Mark Hughes and Ian Rush have therefore never been admired at a World Cup.
If Gareth Bale, who turns 33 in July, doesn’t get injured, he will. The attacker has won just about everything with Real Madrid since 2013, including five Champions Leagues, but in recent years he has mainly built a reputation as a spoiled star, for whom millions were far more important than minutes on the pitch.
Bale has become a symbol for everything that too much money is wrong with football. The fact that he is going to the poorer World Cup in Qatar fits completely into that image. At the same time, he is also the boy who always got out of bed for Wales and almost shot his country to the World Cup himself. It is precisely when there is little more than honor at stake that Bale is at his best.