Saturday 3.00pm, 11/06/2016 – THE GAME v Slovakia

After 58 years to be at the final stage of a competition was momentous.  The area behind the goal was a sea of red and the crowd were the 12th man even before the game had begun. A strong start was what was needed and we got exactly that.  Everyone was singing and on their feet and the team was doing their bit to keep the atmosphere going. I was on my feet but mainly because I was in seat 28 and the numbering seemed to stop at 27.  A free kick to Cymru and the guy next to me says “Who’s going to take this!!” and as we laughed the ball curved into the back of the net from Gareth’s sweetly hit free kick.  The tempo continued until half time, the new stade at Bordeaux is designed so that everyone can walk around it and you can meet up with friends at halftime.  Danny got his picture taken after we had met up with Gareth and Clive and he wondered why it is that at every game these days the pitch has to be given an half-time soaking, even when it’s raining.  For the second half upon returning to my seat, but actually not my seat I discovered that I had managed to circumvent security and get into the wrong area!  As everyone was now seated I had a bit of a problem but was able to extract myself from the area and find my real seat, yes there was a seat 28.  Two seats away from where I should have been was my mate Matt from Cyprus – strange how France is making this world seem smaller.

 

Our 2^nd half performance was more jaded and Slovakia managed a deserved equaliser.  The turnaround came when the only man I’ve ever seen walk off the pitch with a broken leg, step forward Joe Ledley, came on as a substitute to inspire the team and the fans.  To keep the dream alive and the romance the Welsh odyssey alive the goal-scorer was Hal Robson-Kanu, of the famous chant fame and strangely enough the only man at Euro 16 unattached because no team wants him.  Form a queue the managers now waiting to sign him.  A 2-1 victory.   After meeting up with Bob, Ada and Jane we made our way to the tram for the journey back into Bordeaux and the FanZone.