Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:11 am
The World Cup dream is on
After 64 years of trying, Wales are once more on the brink of reaching a World Cup for the first time since the Class of 1958.
We've been here before of course - Paul Bodin, Arms Park, 1993 anyone?
But there is a growing feeling this current group of players can get over the qualifying line.
There is more firepower in the side than the one that lost to Ireland under Chris Coleman in the race for Russia 2018, with Kieffer Moore, Dan James, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams, allied to Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, bringing extra penalty box threat.
The play-off draw couldn't have been kinder, either. Not only were European powerhouses Italy and Portugal avoided, Wales have a home draw in the semi-finals against Austria and another one for a potential final versus Scotland or the Ukraine.
Those would normally each be 50-50 games, but at Cardiff City Stadium in front of a sell-out 33,000-plus crowd (Welsh Government permitting) they are firmly tilted in the balance of Gareth Bale and his team.
Wales reach the World Cup at last - that's the banner headline we want to be reading this spring.