• We’ve made history, but we can make more —Bale

“It feels incredible. We fully believed we could get this far. We said we’d give it a good go. We’re enjoying the journey.”

Those were the words of the commander-in-chief of Wales’ national team, Gareth Bale, after they stunned much-fancied Belgium 3-1 in a remarkable quarterfinal game in Lille on Friday night to book a semifinal ticket at Euro 2016.

Some months back, Bale declared that no English player could make the Welsh team. He was lambasted, particularly by the English fans, who do not see anything special in his ability.

Bale, the world’s most expensive player has turned out to be a seer. While England with ‘captain fantastic’ Rooney, has since crashed to Iceland in the round of 16, Wales has zoomed into the semi. To many football lovers across the globe, Wales’ smooth run in Euro 2016 is a result of self-belief.

Bale and his team-mates dug deep to send Belgium packing on Friday to keep their dream of winning the title alive.

Wales recovered from Radja Nainggolan’s stunning opener in the 13th minute to win 3-1 in Lille but, rather than go-to man Bale getting on the scoresheet, it was captain Ashley Williams, striker Hal Robson-Kanu and substitute Sam Vokes who got the goals.

A semi-final clash with Portugal awaits for Chris Coleman’s side, setting up an enticing clash between Bale and his Real Madrid team-mate, Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We fought as hard as anyone. We covered every blade of grass. I think we deserve to be in the semi-finals. We believe in ourselves. We know what we’re doing.”

As for the clash with Ronaldo, Bale added: “It’s Portugal versus Wales, nothing more. It’s in our hands now, but we can’t afford to look past the semi-final. We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and we’ll stick to that.”

The hopes of Wales fans at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy were pinned on Bale shining as he had done earlier in the tournament.

With his parents watching, Bale had an influence on proceedings but such a spectacular victory owed more to a huge collective effort.

Bale’s three goals in three games helped Chris Coleman’s side through the group stage and it was his cross that forced Gareth McAuley’s own-goal that allowed Wales to beat Northern Ireland in the last 16.

But then, there was Robson-Kanu’s winner against Slovakia in their opening game and Aaron Ramsey’s sterling display in the 3-0 trouncing of an abject Russia, not to mention the collective efforts of their well-drilled defence.

In 1958, the Welsh had to make do without star player John Charles as they lost narrowly to Pele and Brazil in the World Cup quarter-final in Sweden.

And looking back more than 50 years still resonates with Bale and the current Wales squad.

“We’re very proud at what the ‘58 team did,” said Bale. “They had some amazing players.

“But we’ve always spoken that this is our time to shine, and we’ve definitely done that. It’s going to be an amazing day, we’ve already made history and hopefully we can make more.”

Wales hero Hal Robson-Kanu put his side’s stunning victory over Belgium in Friday’s Euro 2016 quarterfinal down to years of collective hard work.

Robson-Kanu, Ashley Williams and Sam Vokes scored the goals as Chris Coleman’s men came from behind to beat much-fancied Belgium 3-1 in a remarkable game in Lille.

“We are on cloud nine. We have been working for it for many years now and it’s about nights like this where we’ve got rewards and taken our opportunity as a team,” Robson-Kanu said.

The striker received the man of the match award after a fine display capped by a superb individual effort that put Wales 2-1 up early in the second half.

His efforts were made all the more remarkable as the goal came just a day after his contract with English second-tier side Reading expired, making him a free agent.

Describing his goal, he said: “The ball’s come into my feet, I managed to turn in the box and put it in the back of net.

“As for my club situation, I’ve been at Reading for 12 years. I’ve given them a lot of service and been very loyal, but I decided to run my contract down and have my future in my own hands.”

Wales are into a major tournament semifinal for the first time, but Robson-Kanu said now was not the moment for any big celebrations.

“It’s quite a quick turnaround. Obviously we are all on cloud nine but we are professionals and we have another game. We will enjoy the night and then begin preparations for our next game tomorrow.”