It’s hard to believe that we’re now just a couple of days away from seeing Wales walk out in front of billions of people watching all around the world as they take to the field in a football World Cup for the first time in 64 years.
It’s difficult to put into words how proud we all are - whether you’re a rugby fan, a football fan or whatever - that we will get to see our nation represented on such a big stage, and as well as everyone here in Wales, I genuinely think a lot of neutrals around the world will be watching our team and rooting for them when their teams are not playing.
That says a lot about what this team has done and how it has gone about things, the rapport it has with its fans, and the global appeal of certain stars, in particular Gareth Bale.
We are a very small yet hugely talented country and any sporting success really does help to put Wales on the map, and that recognition will only grow and grow with some success out in Qatar when the team kick-off their tournament on Monday night.
It’s a tough group but if we can get to the knockout phase then anything can happen, as we saw in the Euros in 2016. If our best players are fit and on form there is no reason why we can’t compete out there.
Of course, the team has already done us proud in getting to the World Cup and in the way its performed at previous tournaments. And it’s not just the squad that’s achieved that, it’s the fans, too.
The way they conducted themselves during the Euros in France six years ago enhanced Wales’ reputation across Europe and the rest of the world. Millions of people will have watched our games and seen how we behaved on the pitch, in the stands, and on the streets of France.
The enormity of the football World Cup means some people watching will be finding out about Wales for the first time, and through football they can learn more about the country, its language and its history. That can only benefit other sports as well, including rugby.
I’m fed up of this debate that sometimes pops up regarding football and rugby, about which one people prefer and what is the most popular sport in Wales. The fact is, a lot of the Welsh team in Qatar will have played rugby in school, played junior rugby, and will have grown up watching rugby, and the same goes the other way around for the rugby squad.
We saw their reaction earlier this week when they stood and applauded the football boys out of the Vale Resort training base as they left for the last time before heading to Qatar.
There is a total respect there between two sets of players representing their country at the highest level. We are a small nation and sport means everything to a lot of people in Wales, and rugby and football should be games for all.
That brings us on to some of the controversy surrounding the World Cup in Qatar, a country with a terrible human rights record and where homosexuality is illegal.
Some people have been pointing blame at players, fans and others for taking part in the World Cup, but let’s be honest - this is nobody’s fault but FIFA’s for awarding the tournament to Qatar in the first place. If I had a choice and was asked would I want the World Cup to be held in Qatar, of course I would say no, but I will be watching and supporting Wales in every game.
Hopefully how we and other nations conduct ourselves can help change certain attitudes in the country, but the people who decided that this tournament would be held in Qatar are the ones that should be held accountable for it and made to take a long and hard look at themselves.
I wonder what the real motive was in awarding it to Qatar. So we shouldn’t blame the teams, the players or the fans who are out in Qatar, we should blame the people at the top.
Hopefully what supporters from different countries all over the world can do is initiate a change in attitude in Qatar, whether that is possible or not I don’t know, but we hope that this World Cup can have a positive impact and a lasting one - for football, for the whole of sport, and most importantly for Qatar itself.
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