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| Gareth Bale celebrating his 82nd-minute winner against Cyprus |
The Dragons had been heading for a goalless draw on a night where the searing heat and some rough tactics from their hosts had thrown them out of their stride.
But there was to be no denying the Real Madrid superstar as he perfectly met Jazz Richards deep cross to power the ball high into the net with eight minutes to go. It was his 18th goal for his country and his sixth goal in just seven games in this campaign.
Wales may not want to be known as a one-man team, but one has to wonder where they would be without him.
As it is a sold-out Cardiff City Stadium has the chance to witness Wales reaching a first major finals since 1958 as a win over Israel will book their place in France.
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| Bale towering above the Cyprus defender to score Wales' winner |
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| Manager Chris Coleman - There was a lot of pressure on us but the players handled it magnificently |
Wales manager Chris Coleman’s plans had suffered a late blow with the withdrawal of Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley with a hamstring problem.
Dave Edwards came in for his first start since the 6-1 hiding in Serbia three years ago, while Ben Davies and Andy King replaced absentees James Chester and Joe Allen.
Coleman had spent the majority of the build-up pleading with Polish referee Szymon Marciniak to protect his players from the sort of robust challenges Cyprus had been guilty of in the reverse fixture.
Those pleas looked to have gone unheeded when Constantinos Charalambides escaped punishment for a horrible late tackle on Ben Davies, while Marios Nickolaou left his mark on Aaron Ramsey.
The Arsenal midfielder almost gave Wales a fi fth-minute lead with their first meaningful attack. Bale collected the ball and drove forward to feed Ramsey, whose curling strike just cleared the bar.
After a quiet opening, Bale was starting to come to life and his longrange free-kick completely baffled Antonis Giorgallidies in the Cyprus goal, who just managed to save with his legs and then did well to keep out Neil Taylor’s follow-up.
At the other end, striker Nestor Mytidis was proving a nuisance to the Welsh defence and he had a penalty appeal waved away after an Ashley Williams challenge.
There was a palpable tension about the Welsh play, but it looked to have been lifted when they had the ball in the net after 27 minutes as Edwards headed in a Bale cross – but it was harshly ruled out for a push by Hal Robson-Kanu.
As the dust settled on that decision, Bale raced clear only to be denied by a terrific covering challenge by Kostas Laifis.
Wales were soon back on the front foot as Robson-Kanu broke forward, only for the Reading man’s pass to be miscontrolled by Ramsey as the interval beckoned.
The Dragons finally began to find some fluency early in the second half, with Bale causing trouble dropping deep and surging forward.
His lovely pass sent Robson-Kanu scampering into the area but Giorgallides timed his challenge to perfection as the forward tried to round him.
The game had looked to be petering out, but Bale made sure Wales were not denied as they moved to the brink of history.
Wales manager Chris Coleman said: “It was always going to be difficult, we knew what to expect. The pitch was woeful, it was hot and humid, and the opposition had nothing to lose.
“Expectations were on us. It wasn’t one of our better performances. But it is a huge three points. There was a lot of pressure on us and the players handled it magnificently.”
Bale said: “It was more than tough out there, the humidity was incredible. We kept it tight and luckily enough we were able to nick a goal. Having said that I don’t think I had the best of games tonight.
“But we know what we have to do. We are a strong team, we are together and we know our capabilities.”
CYPRUS (4-4-2): Giorgallides; Demetriou, Junior, Laifi s, Antoniades; Charalambides (74), Nikolaou, Economides, Makridis; Mytidis (Kolokoudias 65); Makris (Sotiriou 84).
WALES (5-3-2): Hennessey; Richards, Gunter, A Williams, Davies, Taylor; King, Ramsey (MacDonald 90), Edwards; Bale (Church 90), Robson-Kanu (Vokes 68). Goal: Bale 82.
Referee: S Marciniak (Poland)
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