Heartbreak for Wales but future looks so bright

The numbers were always stacked against Wales in Lyon last night but Chris Coleman’s men still return home as heroes today, albeit ultimately heroic in failure after manfully battling to defeat by one of European football’s most successful ever teams.

This was Wales appearing in a major semi-final for the first time in their history, their first tournament since 1958 undone by one of the world’s best players appearing in his seventh finals for a country that was appearing in its fifth semi-final in 16 years.

It was remarkable just to see Wales line-up here let alone match a below par Portugal team man for man as they went in goalless at half-time, leading even the most seasoned of watches to swallow Coleman’s mantra and ‘believe’ they could achieve the impossible and reach Sunday’s final.