Wales welcome home their heroes

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Fans welcome Wales heroes

Chris Coleman spoke of his pride as Cardiff came to a standstill to welcome home Wales' Euro 2016 heroes.

An estimated 200,000 people lined the streets of the Welsh capital as the fans came out in force to recognise the achievements of Coleman's squad.

Wales' French adventure was ended by a 2-0 defeat to Portugal in Lyon on Wednesday but, having failed to qualify for a major tournament for 58 years, the country now has the distinction of being the smallest nation by population to reach the semi-finals of the European Championship.

"We are very proud because this doesn't happen for no reason," said manager Coleman.

"We know if we give our nation something to be proud of this is the end result.

"But we are in the middle of something, not the end. We are in the middle of an experience which is very good.

"We need that little bit of luck, the same hunger and desire and good things will happen."

The Wales squad had left their Brittany base in Dinard on Friday morning for the final time ahead of their homecoming party.

After hundreds of supporters greeted them at Cardiff Airport - renamed Cardiff Bale Airport for the day in honour of Wales star Gareth Bale - the squad signed autographs and had pictures taken with fans before boarding a bus taking them into the city centre.

Emblazoned on the side of the bus were the words 'Diolch (Thank you). Together We Are Stronger' - illustrating the close bond between players and supporters.

The open top bus parade started its journey from Cardiff Castle and took over an hour to travel the few miles to Cardiff City Stadium, Wales' home ground.

The players were clearly taken aback by their reception as the bus snaked its way through the streets of the capital.

"To get a welcome like this was incredible. It shows how amazing our fans are," said Bale.

"The support we've had has given us that extra confidence to move on to the next level.

"Everything we've achieved we could haven't done it without everyone here.

"We fought hard to qualify, all through the games we kept progressing and getting better as a team.

"We knew what we were capable of after getting to France, we said we didn't want to make the numbers up.

"We wanted to give it a real go - and we got ahead of the English!"

Over 30,000 were present at Cardiff City Stadium and The Alarm's Mike Peters and Manic Street Preachers provided musical entertainment.

The Manics sang Wales' official Euro 2016 anthem before the players and management staff were introduced on to the pitch.

"The staff have been unbelievable, they have helped this team on," said midfielder Aaron Ramsey, one of the stand-out players of the entire Euro 2016 tournament.

"We've had some really dark days as a team, but we've come so far in a short space of time.

"The chemistry between the team is evident in the way we play, we work our socks off for each other."

First Minister Carwyn Jones said the tournament had left a legacy which would help the Football Association of Wales develop the game further in the country.

The FAW expects to receive around #15million for reaching the last four of the Euros, and plan to invest in the grass roots to develop more players, create better facilities and increase the number of coaches.

"All those years of going abroad and hearing people say 'Wales, where's that? Is it part of England?' Well, that's gone out of the window," Jones told BBC One Wales.

"In five weeks they've really shown where Wales is and that we are a country in ourselves.

"Football is the biggest sport in the world, this is one of the biggest tournaments in the world and to be in the semi-final means people have heard of you.

"You can't buy this kind of publicity, it's just been incredible to see the awareness about Wales which has flowed across the whole of the continent and the world."