Joe Ledley shouldn't be at these Euros. At least, that is what we all thought when he broke his leg against Stoke in May. But, amazingly, Ledley has not only made it back to full fitness in time for the championships, but has managed to excel, coming off the bench to shore up the midfield in Wales' opening win against Slovakia and playing the delicious through ball to Aaron Ramsey that eventually led to Hal Robson-Kanu's winning goal. And last night he continued his brilliant-and remarkable-form.
Ledley and his Welsh team-mates were outstanding against an admittedly shocking Russian side who were utterly devoid of any fight or team spirit whatsoever. Goals from Ramsey, Neil Taylor and Gareth Bale meant that Wales, aided by a toothless England draw against Slovakia, topped Group B with six points.
When the final whistle blew, the Welsh fans went into raptures at their side's result. Then, upon learning that their great foes had conspired to hand them first place in the group, all hell broke loose. And Ledley wasn't too knackered from his midfield dynamism to throw out a few dance moves. You may consider them seriously slick. Or maybe the opposite-maybe Joe should have waited until he was in the dark, shadowy climes of Coppers before he unleashed such dubious steps on society. Either way, it is well worth a watch.
And this isn't the first time the 'Welsh Michael Jackson' has entranced/traumatised fans with his 'off the ball' movement. After his side qualified for the tournament Ledley orchestrated an impromptu freestyle, prompted by his Welsh team-mates (from 2:28 below).
Ledley's dance moves have plenty of enthusiasm at least, no matter what your judgment may be of his actual ability. At least he only dances whenever he's got the game won, unlike his club manager Alan Pardew, who gave the world an idea of what he's like on the dance floor at this year's FA Cup final. Decidedly over-40s disco, one would have to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEv6Y8eG8d8
Wales fans will be hoping to see plenty more of Ledley's victory dance. Rather than facing a possible clash against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the last 16 as they may have envisaged ahead of last night, they look set to take on Albania, Northern Ireland or the Czech Republic-all opponents they will arguably be more confident of defeating.
And with Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey two of the tournament's best performers so far and a strong core of Ledley and Ashley Williams supplementing talents like Ben Davis and the impressive Chris Gunter, Welsh hopes will be high that they'll be seeing more impressive moves from their side this summer, both on and off the field.
