Hazard returns to training for Belgium

When he arrived back in his native Swansea after taking his country to a level they had never reached before or since, the ticket collector at the train station asked: “Have we been on holiday again then?”

Wales are in the habit of defying the odds as a team whose unity – and sprinkling of star quality in the form of Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale and Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey – compensates for a squad lacking the strength in depth of their illustrious opponents. They have won their last three games, overcoming Ireland, Sweden and Hungary, scoring eight goals without conceding.

There had been fears that Wales captain Ashley Williams might miss the game after suffering a shoulder injury following a nasty collision with a team mate in their 1-0 last-16 win over Northern Ireland.

“I’ve trained all the sessions this week, it’s in good shape and I’m sure it will be fine tomorrow”. “That’s all I need”.

“We know what’s at stake, we know we’ve earned it, and it’s a great place to be”.

Vertonghen suffered a blow to the ankle in training, initially thought to be just a sprained ankle, but is now something which has ended his participation at Euro 2016 for the Red Devils, leaving Belgium reeling.

Paying tribute in Bretagne, French, Welsh and English, there was a faint sense of bidding farewell, perhaps mindful that Wales’ first European Championship campaign could be nearing its end.

“Team spirit can only come from events on the pitch – that’s where you see players standing up for each other”.

“We have done well to get this far, but when you are in the quarter-final of the tournament knowing if we can get it right there are great possibilities, it is different”, said Coleman.

“There is more football and more performances in this team”. Romelu Lukaku scored 27 goals in 52 appearances for Everton this season and always looks threatening.

Chris Coleman is facing the media in France as he gears up for the biggest match of his managerial career.

Both teams have evolved since the match in Cardiff.

Gareth Bale was the man who scored the decisive strike, and indeed he had a hand in nine of Wales’ 11 goals in qualifying, meaning he directly contributed to 82% of their strikes.

Belgium thumped Hungary 4-0 in the last 16 in Toulouse and are rewarded with a trip to Lille’s Stade Pierre-Mauroy, only 100 kilometres from the Belgian border.

Wilmots said the team was not in shock after losing its most-capped player (83 games) for the rest of the competition.

Bale, 26, has helped set the mischievous tone of Wales’s approach to the Euro, cheekily taking aim at Group B rivals England before the tournament had even begun.

Avoiding the more risky side of the Euro 2016 bracket, Belgium has emerged as one of the favorites to win the tournament, now going off at +400 behind only Germany and France.