A MAN from Rhyl who witnessed Wales’ first World Cup game since 1958 with his partner in Qatar last night (November 21) described the experience as one of the greatest of his life.
Carl Roberts, a skip lorry driver who turned 60 last week, travelled to the Middle East with his partner of 26 years, Kerry, for an unforgettable 11-day experience.
Both Carl and Kerry were two of roughly 3,000 Welsh fans at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, as Gareth Bale’s late penalty secured a 1-1 draw in their opening group game against the United States.
Having been following Wales for as long as he can remember, Manchester United fan Carl described this experience as “the pinnacle”.
He said: “Yesterday was absolutely fabulous, the whole experience was one of the highlights of my life. We were in the middle of the ‘Red Wall’; it was tremendous.
“It’s been brilliant, the atmosphere with all of the different fans in the hotel has been superb. At the game yesterday, there was no trouble or aggravation whatsoever. It was fantastic.
“We followed Wales all around France in 2016 (when Wales reached the semi-finals of the European Championships), which was a trip of a lifetime.
“But coming to a World Cup with Wales is beyond anything I could imagine.
“It’s completely different to France, which was unbelievable, but this is the World Cup. It’s the pinnacle, isn’t it?”
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Carl and Kerry flew to Dubai, where they are staying, on Sunday morning (November 20), before flying across to Qatar and back for yesterday’s match.
They haven’t managed to secure tickets for Wales’ next game, against Iran on Friday, but are still hopeful for their third and final group match versus England on November 29.
Together, Carl and Kerry have also been to the Glastonbury festival 21 times, the London Olympics in 2012, and the Ryder Cup and British Open golf tournaments.
He added: “We managed to get 11 nights in Hotel Riu, all inclusive, for £2,000 each, and to go to the game, with flights and tickets, it worked out at £600 for the two of us.
“In our hotel, there must be 200 Welsh fans, 200 Argentinians, 100 Mexicans and Poles, and about five English fans!
“They’ve got a massive room with a huge screen, and there must be about 400 people in there now watching the Argentina game (versus Saudi Arabia)
“The England game is still in the balance, but if we can’t go, we’ll watch it with all of the Wales fans in the hotel on the big screen.
“We’ve got to beat Iran, and hope that England beat the USA. I think it’ll depend on who scores the most against Iran out of us and the USA, but anything can happen.”
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