IT was a win over Belgium 12 months ago that first had fans really believing that Wales would make it to Euro 2016 and a repeat this Friday will surely have everyone thinking the unthinkable – can we actually win the whole thing?

That is an outcome that few people thought credible before Wales’ tournament opener against Slovakia just over a fortnight ago.

The supporters were just happy to be in France and even the players have admitted that they never expected to get this far.

If Chris Coleman’s men can somehow find a way past Belgium in Lille they will be into the semi-finals of the European Championships.

Then it’s Poland or Portugal and then… we may all wake up and realise the past few weeks have been one huge cheese dream – le rêve de fromage.

The sight of Eden Hazard running rings around the Hungarian defence on Sunday night was certainly enough to give anyone nightmares.

But Coleman says he will have no special plans for the Chelsea star and he insists that all the pressure will be on Marc Wilmots’ side.

Wilmots’ multi-talented squad will be expected to brush Wales aside and, with Lille a mere 10 miles from the Belgian border, there will be thousands of his countrymen heading for the game.

Unlike the Northern Ireland match, when Wales were the favourites and appeared to be paralysed by the tag, they will relish being the underdogs once again this time.

And the significance of that win in Cardiff last June cannot be underplayed in terms of confidence for Wales and, here’s hoping, a nagging sense of doubt in the heads of the Belgians.

“We got our game plan right that day,” said Coleman, whose side have not conceded against Belgium in 206 minutes of football.

“With their quality they will not change their style or have a completely different plan because they do not need to.

“You know what they will do but it does not mean you can stop it.

“They are not unbeatable so we know from our experience of that game that on our day, at our best we can cause Belgium problems.

“They won convincingly against Hungary and they looked good, but they don’t always play like they can and they make mistakes like anyone else. It is up to us to make sure that side comes out.”

The Wales boss agrees that the match will suit his team much more than the derby clash in Paris.

“Northern Ireland was tough because it was on us, we would have felt we had missed a trick if we had lost,” he explained.

“This one, we are the underdogs and it is on Belgium. Before the tournament they were expected to reach the semi-finals if not do more because of the talent they have got.

“For us, as a team, if we had not performed to certain levels then we would not be thinking how well we have done.

“Can we bring it again and perform like we can perform? Because that is what we are going to need.

“We're good against teams that open up against us,” he added.

“Northern Ireland weren't going to do that so we had to find a different way. Going into this game, Belgium will be the fancied team.

“They are right on their own doorstep and it's something they can use as advantage to ourselves. When we have to stand up to the challenge we do.”

There is of course the distinct possibility that Belgium – ranked second in the world – will have too much quality for Wales.

And if Coleman’s men put up a good fight and ultimately lose to the better side they will rightfully receive a heroes’ welcome back home.

But the Wales boss is not interested in thinking like that.

He said: “Everyone will think it is alright because we have done well to get this far, but when you are in the quarter-final of the tournament knowing if we can get it right there are great possibilities it is different.

“We’re focused on maximising performances because we know what can happen with that.

“I understand people saying we have done well, but I feel there is more football and more performances in this team.

“We have coped really well with the pressure, we have won three games, we have tried to win games and that is because we have our plan right and we have stuck to it.

“That is the reason for the success of this team, we concentrate on ourselves and we have to do it again. “We know what we are good at, why we are here. If we get our game plan and players right that is what matters, it is a one-off game, it will be on the night and can we bring our game and show our identity, if we do that the result is more in our control.

"It's OK to come out of it feeling we did everything but they were better than us, or they got lucky.

“We've done everything we believed in over the last two years – can we do it again? If we do that, whatever medicine it is, we'll have to take it."

A win will leave the nation in need of smelling salts and a lot of ibuprofen come Saturday morning but, listening to Coleman talk such a good game it’s impossible to rule out the unthinkable.

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