Gareth Bale and John Toshack

Andy King Bale: Related:Wales within reach of Euro 2016 finals as Gareth Bale downs Cyprus With so many of the current group products of a successful Wales Under-21 team under Brian Flynn and coming through into the senior side at the same time – John Toshack gave 11 of the 13 that featured in the 1-0 victory over Belgium in June their international debuts – the golden generation tag has been around for a while and at times there were doubts about whether the players would be able to live up to the hype, according to The Guardian. Wales slipped to 117th in the world in the rankings four years ago and the core of a promising group – Aaron Ramsey, Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter, Joe Ledley, Joe Allen, Neil Taylor, Andy King and Bale – could have been forgiven for wondering whether they would ever get a chance to represent their country on the biggest stage. Gareth Bale thumping late header against Cyprus on Thursday gave Wales a precious 1-0 win in Nicosia that strengthened their hold on top spot in Group B and means they can book their place at Euro 2016 with another victory over Israel in Cardiff on Sunday. Everything, however, has spectacularly come together in this campaign and reinforced the belief that Wales, inspired by Bale, who has scored six and set up two of their nine goals in qualification, are blessed with the most talented crop of players in years. Then, yeah, absolutely. We’ll be the golden generation when I’m sitting here with a smile on my face and we’re celebrating because we’ve got enough points which means we can’t be caught and we’re on our way to France, Coleman, the Wales manager, said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.