Steve McMananman exclusive: Wales can win Euros thanks to incredible team ethic

In a year that has seen the craziest Premier League title race of all time won by Leicester City, wouldn’t it be amazing to see Chris Coleman and his Wales team dancing around the Stade de France in Paris next weekend after being crowned as European champions.

Well, I think it is more than possible because I’d fancy them to get through the semi-final against Portugal on Wednesday and then they will have a decent chance against anyone in a final that is likely to be filled with tension for both teams taking part.

Wales have been underdogs for most of that time, but have managed to come up with big wins against some top nations and it was easy to see why they gave Belgium so many problems in qualifying and now in the Euro 2016 finals.

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Unlike England, Wales are showing that they are a team rather than a group of individuals and that has carried them to the most remarkable set of results over the last couple of years.

Belgium continue to fall short in big tournaments and watching them at close quarters against Wales, I can see why.

They have a wonderful collection of players, but getting them all into a functioning team is a tough task and their coach Marc Wilmots has failed to find a way to make it work so far.

Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Radja Nainggolan and Romelu Lukaku are all excellent players, but they are all individual talents that tend to be free spirits on the pitch. They do their own thing and even when they went ahead against Wales, you could see how brittle Belgium were as Coleman’s side roared back at them.

We spoke a lot about England’s problems after their woeful demise against Iceland and suggested they were individuals rather than a winning team and Belgium are also suffering in that respect.

What we see with Wales could not be more contrasting. Gareth Bale is their star player, but we are seeing in this tournament is they are so much more than just one superstar. This is a team battling for each other all over the pitch and the stories coming from their run are truly remarkable.

There was Hal Robson-Kanu scoring a wonder goal that turned the semi-final in his side’s favour on Friday night….an unemployed footballer who has been bombed out of a Championship club and wonders what his future holds.

That was followed up by a truly sensational goal from Sam Vokes, who outsmarted a top class defender in Toby Alderweireld to head home a Welsh clincher than will live long in the memory.

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What a night it was and I’m so delighted for Coleman and all his players. This is one of those great feel-good sporting stories and I hope they can now compose themselves and not allow the pressure of the situation they find themselves in to get to them.

The Welsh players will not have considered the prospect of getting to the semi-final or winning Euro 2016 until this point, but now that incredible prospect is on their horizon. 

I can’t wait to see how they react to it all and I wish each and every one of them all the best for the semi-final against Portugal.

In the year of the underdog we can all look forward to a Wales v Iceland Euro 2016 finals next Sunday…or maybe I am just getting a little swept away in this year of the underdog.