Lille (France): Wales chief coach Chris Coleman hailed his team’s tremendous team spirit and togetherness and pointed out that it was the reason behind them reaching the semi-finals of the Euro football championship. Wales came back from a goal down to beat Belgium 3-1 here on Friday night to make the cut although it was Belgium who had gone into the tie as favourites.

“It’s complete euphoria really. I think it’s amazing,” Coleman was quoted as saying by the Football Association of Wales website.

“We know Belgium are a top team so we knew that, if we were going to do anything tonight, we had to bring our A-game and our players certainly did that plus… And more! It was an incredible performance and they deserved the win. I think what you saw tonight was that team spirit and togetherness that everybody talks about with this team,” he added.

“It’s alright talking about it, but sometimes you’ve got to show it. It’s not just showing it when you’re one or two goals up, it’s when you’re down and it’s against you.” It was Wales captain Ashley Williams who headed in the equaliser after Radja Nainggolan had put Belgium into an early lead.

“So, they got an early goal, which was not what we wanted because then, had we let them get in their stride and in their rhythm, it would have been a tough night but these boys were straight back at the Belgium lads,” added Coleman.

“Then we started to control the game and we did for the first half really. After the first ten or fifteen minutes, we controlled the game. So obviously, we got the goal back and we went in at half time the much better team. I think we surprised Belgium.”

The second strike was from Hal Robson-Kanu while the third came from a delightful header from Sam Vokes. “You have to believe in yourself,” said man-of-the-match Robson-Kanu.

“It’s fantastic, it’s been all about the team all the way through this and tonight is just a special, special night for everyone involved. We’ve got top players throughout the squad. A lot of people underestimate the quality of players in our squad so it’s important that we have that competition. But I was delighted with my performance today.”

“It was brilliant, it was a great feeling,” said Vokes when asked about his goal. “We knew we were coming up against a tough test tonight and they showed that. I think the way the boys reacted shows the spirit of the lads and to come back and win 3-1 is an amazing feat.”

IANS