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Juventus and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey was ecstatic after helping his nation through to Euro 2020 this week and the feeling must have been extra special after experiencing the heartbreak of missing out on the World Cup last year.
The former Arsenal star scored both goals as Wales secured qualification with a 2-0 win over Hungary on Tuesday, marking his return to the squad with a stellar performance. And he's now confident the Dragons could go deep into next year's tournament on the back of what was a thrilling qualification campaign.
Suspension saw to it that the midfielder missed out when the Welsh side faced eventual Euro 16 champions Portugal in the semi-final of the last tourney and he feels like he has unfinished business, with Wales now back in the big league after having qualified for a major competition again.
"It was obviously a disappointing ending to the Euros for me by missing out on the semi-final," he said after his two-goal performance against Hungary, per The Guardian. "Those things happen and now I have the opportunity to go out there and express myself again and hopefully we can have another successful run like we did last time.
"We're looking forward to it. It was a great effort from the players, staff and everyone involved so to experience this again now is going to be some journey. To do back-to-back Euros is something special. It was very disappointing not to make the [2018] World Cup but we learned from the experience of that night to bring it back here, and to win in the manner we did was a nice experience."
Ramsey and the rest of the Wales side will discover their fate when the groups for the competition are announced during the draw at Bucharest on November 30. Wales will either be drawn into Group A or Group B. The former's matches will take place in Baku and Rome while the latter's will be held in Copenhagen and St. Petersburg.
The 28-year-old will be especially keen on representing his country in the Italian capital, given that he now suits up for a Serie A team. "I'm enjoying my time over there at the moment, so that would be nice," he admitted.
Wales are considered longshots to win the tournament at 150/1 with Bet365. The bookmakers have France down as the favorites to lift the European Championship title following their impressive World Cup exploits last year. Didier Deschamps' men are 4/1 with Ladbrokes while Gareth Southgate's England is at 9/2 with William Hill.
Fans in search of tips could head to onlinesportbetting.ca for the best Euro 2020 predictions, as well as the top odds and deals. Meanwhile, Belgium are 13/2 with Skybet in the wake of some remarkable international performances stretching back to the World Cup, from which they claimed bronze last summer. Germany and Spain have been disappointing in recent tournaments but are both 8/1 to win next year's Euros with Marathon Bet.
Ramsey's optimism could be well-placed especially when we look back on Portugal's unlikely run to gold in 2016. Unfortunately, the wait is several months long but we have club football to take our minds off the Euros for now.
