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Wales boss Rob Page hailed a star who “can’t even get in a Championship side,” while pundit Ashley Williams declared a Welshman not named Gareth Bale to be “world class”.

Wales put one foot in the knockout stages of Euro 2020 with a superb 2-0 victory over Turkey. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey were unplayable at times. The duo carry the weight of the country’s expectations but stood up tall on the biggest stage.

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Ramsey notched the game’s opener before Bale missed a penalty in shocking fashion. Not to be deterred, the Real Madrid winger stepped up his game for the remainder of the match and had a giant hand in Connor Roberts’ injury-time nerve settler.

Speaking to the BBC after the match, Page said: “I couldn’t be more proud, I’ve just said to them to create the number of chances we did is unbelievable.

“We are disappointed we didn’t score more but to win in the manner we did, credit goes to the players. No disrespect to Turkey but they are a different side to Switzerland, but we knew we had more to come.

MATCH REPORT: Ramsey unstoppable in thrilling Wales win despite shocking Bale moment

“The first game is always tough, you need to not get beat, so to be where we are now with four points is great. When you have quality like Dan James, Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale, Kieffer Moore, you are always going to cause teams problems. The lads rose to the challenge, our supporters did a great job too.

“What Gareth really showed was character, everyone makes mistakes, but he got on with it and was man of the match. He played a massive part as a captain, as was Aaron Ramsey who I thought was outstanding tonight.

“And Joe Morrell, who cannot even get in a Championship side, but you see him play like that in an international. We want to go into every game to win, we will have to be mindful of Italy, we will pick a team that can go and compete.”

Bale ecstatic with Wales start

“I’m absolutely delighted with the win, we fought hard, worked our socks off, yes I missed a penalty but I feel I showed good character to keep going.

Wow. Gareth Bale

Watch and listen on the BBC https://t.co/lTTydwITIm #TURWAL #Euro2020 #bbceuro2020 pic.twitter.com/Adwy0vyB04

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 16, 2021

“That second goal at the end was the icing on the cake. Aaron [Ramsey] got in a few times, we’ve always linked up well, it was important to get the victory today.

“You’d like to think that [four points] would be enough, we will have to wait and see, if you’d offered us four points at the start we would have bitten your hand off.

“Playing in front of no fans is difficult, the fans were fantastic, I know most were Turkish but the Welsh fans were great too. It helped get your adrenaline going.

“We want to thank the fans at home too who I’m sure will be cheering in their millions.”

“We’re talking about a world class player” – Williams

Ex-Wales international and BBC pundit Ashley Williams heralded Ramsey as “world class” after his display.

“It’s a great goal, this partnership has been going on for years now,” said the centre-back.

“HE CAN MISS AS MANY CHANCES AS HE LIKES, AS LONG AS THAT WAS THE WINNER!”

Watch and listen on the BBC https://t.co/lTTydwITIm #TURWAL #Euro2020 #bbceuro2020 pic.twitter.com/ICT8NcGveO

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 16, 2021

“As soon as Gareth Bale gets the ball onto his left leg, Aaron Ramsey knows exactly he’s doing and Gaz finds him.

“Perfect run, perfectly timed ball, good touch, kind of bobbled it in a little bit, but he had a few of those runs.

“As a centre half its a nightmare to pick up that diagonal run when you’re facing the guy that has the ball and Aaron knows that, we’re talking about a world class player.”

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