When Gareth Bale put the ball on the penalty spot and took a deep breath as it approached midnight in Qatar on Monday night, millions of us back home could barely watch.
It was the biggest and most important penalty kick taken by a Welshman since at least 1993 - when Paul Bodin had the opportunity to fire Wales towards USA ‘94 - and possibly ever. And it turns out that it wasn’t just some fans in the stands or sat in living rooms or in pubs back home that had to turn away - one of Bale’s teammates couldn’t watch either.
As the Wales skipper stepped back and blew out his cheeks, Neco Williams was stood on the touchline, almost in line with the ball on the penalty spot.
Read more: Gareth Bale's passionate message caught on camera
Williams, one of Wales’ best performers on the night, had just been taken off by boss Rob Page after taking a knock. It was also revealed after the game that he played despite mourning the death of his grandfather, who passed away the day before Wales’ first World Cup match for 64 years.
Williams is stood on the touchline, subs’ bib in hand, as Bale steps up to take the spot kick. The full-back takes a quick look towards his captain, but quickly looks back at the fans before the ball is struck, clearly unable to actually watch what is going to happen. He then only realises that Wales have equalised by the reaction of the supporters facing him in the stand.
Watch below as Neco Williams just can't bear to look as Gareth Bale steps up to take the penalty
Williams then erupts in celebration by cheering wildly on the sideline, before running towards Bale and the rest of his teammates who have ran towards one of the advertising boards in front of ‘The Red Wall’ behind the goal.
Despite being taken off with a little more than 10 minutes of normal time to play - which turned out to be more than 20 minutes of actual game time - Nottingham Forest defender Williams is expected to be fit and available for Wales’ second game in Group B, against Iran on Friday morning (10am UK time). Bale too is expected to once again start for Wales despite Monday night’s draw against USA being his first full 90 minutes since September.
Read next:
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