Success born out of tragedy for Wales

LILLE: The Welsh have a word for it: "Hwyl." It means passion, in the emotional or spiritual sense, in their Celtic language.

And the Wales team has certainly been mining a rich seam of it at the European Championship. It beat a strongly-favored Belgium side 3-1 on Friday to line up a semifinal against Portugal, the national team's biggest achievement since reaching the quarterfinals of the 1958 World Cup.

However, it's a case of sporting success with a tragic backdrop.

Over the past five years, the Welsh squad and its supporters have been coping with the sudden death of its coach, Gary Speed, who was found hanged in his home in 2011 at the age of 42.

Welsh fans chanted, "Are You Watching England" as Wales scored its third goal in the victory over Belgium, one of the tournament favorites.

England failed to make it beyond the last 16, slumping to an embarrassing defeat to Iceland.

From watching Euro 2012 on TV to playing in the semifinals of Euro 2016, the turnaround for the Welsh is little short of remarkable.

"Four years ago we were as far away as you can be from where we are right now," Coleman said. "We find ourselves in an incredible position."

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