Emotional homecoming set for Wales
Print Edition
WALES has arranged a huge homecoming party for its Euro 2016 team as politicians, actors and sports stars showered Chris Coleman’s men with praise yesterday despite their semifinal defeat by Portugal.
“Heroes. Every One” said the headline in the Welsh newspaper Western Mail, sentiments widely echoed in media coverage of their exploits in going further than any previous Welsh soccer team at an international tournament.
The team is scheduled to fly home to Cardiff today where they will be met by First Minister Carwyn Jones.
The squad will then take an open-top bus tour of the Welsh capital with tens of thousands of fans expected to line the streets on a day of national celebration. An evening party for 33,000 fans is also planned in Cardiff City Stadium.
“There is an age-old saying in sport that no-one remembers beaten semifinalists. Not in this case. No chance,” said the South Wales Evening Post.
“Coleman’s Class of 2016 will always be the exceptions to that rule, revered for their stunning exploits in reaching this stage and indelibly stamping their name into football folklore.”
Jones, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton all tweeted praise for the team who, they said, had made people “proud”.
Comedian and actor Rob Brydon tweeted: “Doesn’t matter. What a team, what an achievement!”
But for some of the team, the journey back to day-to-day reality may be long and bumpy.
Midfielder Joe Allen, acclaimed as one of the standout performers in France, returns knowing that he will probably have to leave his club Liverpool to secure first-team football.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies — suspended for the semifinal — and Leicester City midfielder Andy King are also on the fringes of their clubs.
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