After all four of Swansea City's representatives at Euro 2016 made it into the last eight of the competition, two of them are readying themselves for semi-final ties this week while another two gracefully bowed out in the quarter-finals.

It's Wales' defensive duo of Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor that remain in France, while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson fly home with their heads held high after great runs in the tournament with Poland and Iceland respectively.

Williams and Taylor help Wales make history

In their first ever appearance at the Euros, Wales have surpassed their fantastic run to the quarter-finals at their only other major tournament - the 1958 FIFA World Cup - after downing Belgium in the last eight.

Having passed a stern test presented by Northern Ireland in the first knockout round, Taylor and Williams keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win, the Welsh set up a tie with the team ranked second in the world.

However, they showed that passion and togetherness in a team is worth more than talented individuals, comfortably seeing off the Red Devils with a 3-1 win.

After Radja Nainggolan's screamer put the Belgians one up inside 13 minutes, Williams powered in an equaliser just past the half hour mark to get the Dragons back on track.

Goals from Hal Robson Kanu, who has been linked with Swansea after leaving Reading at the end of his contract this summer, and Sam Vokes then turned the tie around to send Chris Coleman's men into a historic semi-final.

They will face Portugal tomorrow with a real chance of not only making it to the final but, with their incredible collective effort, winning it.

Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor celebrate after the former's goal. (Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images)
Swansea teammates Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor celebrate the former's goal. (Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images)

Game over for Fabianski and Sigurdsson

Two men who will be cheering their club teammates on will be Sigurdsson and Fabianski, who both failed to make the last four as they lost their last eight ties.

The latter was the first to crash out, and in the cruelest of ways. His Poland side were matched up with Portugal in a very even game.

Robert Lewandowski gave the Poles an early lead, but this was cancelled out by a splendid strike from Renato Sanches - Fabianski unable to get near it as a slight nick took it away from him and into the back of the net.

Unable to be separated, the two headed to extra time and, eventually, penalties. However, a set of flawless spot-kicks left Fabianski and Portugal stopper Rui Patricio grasping thin air, with neither able to save any of the first six attempts.

The one and only save, however, came from Patricio, who thwarted Jakub Błaszczykowski. Ricardo Quaresma then stepped up and hammered in the decisive spot-kick, sending Fabianski and his countrymen home.

Lukasz Fabianski cannot hide his disappointment after Poland's Euro 2016 exit. (Photo: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Lukasz Fabianski cannot hide his disappointment after Poland's Euro 2016 exit. (Photo: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

Sigurdsson would follow in his teammate's footsteps just a few days later too, his Iceland team downed 5-2 by the hosts, France, in a thrilling game.

The French started quick and were in a 4-0 lead by half time, but Iceland came out and gave it a real go despite the scoreline in the second period. However, the deficit was never going to be overturned, with Sigurdsson and co. seeing their incredible run come to an end.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Ameé Ruszkai
Head of the Sunderland, Swansea City and women football sections at VAVEL UK. Email: [email protected]