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		</div><p>Wales waited 64 years to play at a World Cup and ended up getting knocked out by England.</p>
<p>That painful exit at the hands of a fierce rival was far from the desired conclusion but it should not take away from Wales’ wonderful achievement of ending their lengthy finals exodus.</p>
<p>After the emphatic 3-0 defeat to England, Robert Page’s men hastily headed home with no wins, one point and only a solitary goal – a Gareth Bale penalty – to their name.</p>
<p>They are not great figures. Yet the remaining members of the ‘Golden Generation’, who led Wales into the semi-finals of Euro 2016, had slipped beyond their best before Qatar.</p>
<p>And the results should not detract from Wales qualifying to be in Doha in the first place.</p>
<p>Take out the host nation, who qualified automatically, and Wales were the smallest country in the competition.</p>
<p>Group rivals England, Iran and the United States have a combined population of 472m to Wales’ 3.1m.</p>
<p>Of course, Page’s squad wanted to do better in the Middle East and many will believe they should have.</p>
<p>The players underachieved and came in for fierce criticism, so too the manager’s tactics and selection calls, which were baffling at times. The inquest will be interesting.</p>
<p>However, Wales have suffered too many painful failures since losing a quarter-final to Brazil at the 1958 tournament in Sweden to be completely despondent.</p>
<p>The romantic journey to the World Cup became more about football – it lifted a nation which now appears more at ease with its culture, history and language.</p>
<p>As has been so often the case, Wales’ captain and talisman Bale carried them to Qatar with play-off-winning goals against Austria and Ukraine.</p>
<p>The former Real Madrid star scored a late spot-kick in the 1-1 draw against the USA but did not have the tournament he had dreamed about.</p>
<p>Following elimination, Bale insisted he has no thoughts of retiring from international football and the start of Euro 2024 qualifying is less than four months away.</p>
<p>Yet the 33-year-old, who was taken off injured against England, is not the force of old, the man whose lung-busting runs made him one of the most feared forwards of his generation.</p>
<p>His outing against Gareth Southgate’s side was a particularly low point in his fall from being world class. He lasted just 45 minutes after seven touches and one completed pass.</p>
<p>Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, both named in the Euro 2016 team of the tournament, are also 30-somethings and one must wonder how many more mountains they can climb.</p>
<p>Wales went into their Group B finale requiring a mini miracle to progress following their disappointment of their dismal display in their damaging 2-0 defeat to Iran.</p>
<p>Page went for tried and trusted individuals as his nation sought a first victory over their neighbours for 38 years.</p>
<p>A four-goal win would have guaranteed Wales a last-16 place, something they had not achieved against England in 103 games between the two countries.</p>
<p>More realistically, they needed to win and for Iran and the USA to draw to progress. But a dramatic return from the brink never threatened to materialise.</p>
<p>England dominated first-half possession and completed 322 first-half passes to Wales’ 90, while the USA taking the lead against Iran was unwelcome news.</p>
<p>Following Bale’s premature withdrawal, Wales’ World Cup hopes were over within seven minutes of the restart as Marcus Rashford smashed home a free-kick and Phil Foden pounced from close range</p>
<p>Rashford then added another before the end.</p>
<p>After the final whistle, players lined up in front of the so-called ‘Red Wall’, who belted out the National Anthem and ‘Viva Gareth Bale’.</p>
<p>Generations of proud supporters had waited a lifetime to witness Wales grace a World Cup.</p>
<p>Performances on the field may have fallen short of expectations but that dream has now been realised.</p>
<p>And the bond between the fans and their team remains as strong as ever.</p>
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