There's more to Wales than Gareth Bale

There are two words that sum up Wales's impressive progress down the road to UEFA EURO 2016 qualification – and, believe it or not, they are not 'Gareth' and 'Bale'. The Real Madrid CF star may have scored the winning goal against Belgium last night that took Chris Coleman's side three points clear at the top of Group B but two other words capture the essence of a remarkable Welsh campaign: 'Together Stronger'.

That is the official Wales team slogan and, as a highly fancied Belgium side will vouch, it is so much more than a piece of slick marketing. It appeared in big letters above the main entrance to the sold-out Cardiff City Stadium yesterday and was also visible in the tunnel area, but where its presence was really felt was on the pitch.

Wales have not qualified for a major tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup. They have come close several times in the intervening years but the way a battling team threw their bodies on the line to shut out Belgium – helped by the backing of a wonderfully vociferous crowd – highlighted an irresistible unity that could, finally, lead all the way to the UEFA European Championship next summer.

Reflecting on a "massive" win, defender Neil Taylor told UEFA.com: "It tells you how much we want to qualify – we want it more than anyone else in the group. We feel we are showing that and we are grinding results out. It was a full capacity crowd which pushed us all the way to the end. They did so in the Bosnia and Cyprus games and they've done it again tonight and they are going to help push us all the way to the end.

"We knew we couldn't be open and expansive like we wanted to be because, the quality of Belgium, they would have got on top of us, but the crowd were the 12th man – they helped us go to the end when quite a few of us were struggling."

If the spotlight shone once more on Bale, the matchwinner on his 50th international appearance, this was an evening where more than 30,000 Welsh supporters produced an electric atmosphere – "best atmosphere I've experienced playing for Wales," was Aaron Ramsey's verdict on Twitter – and where Coleman's defenders in particular underlined their worth.

Captain Ashley Williams put in an outstanding performance marshalling a five-man defence that included the inexperienced Ashley 'Jazz' Richards, starting at right-back because of Paul Dummett's injury. Together they protected goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey so well that Belgium – despite 61% of possession – had just one shot on target.

"We've got gutsy boys in there," added Swansea City FC left-back Taylor. "We might not be the best to watch in the group but we've definitely got heart, and we showed that tonight. We've got good quality at moments when we need it and then we've got players who can dig in and take us all the way through. We're still yet to concede a goal from open play in this campaign and we don't want to stop here."

Unbeaten Wales have conceded only twice in their six qualifiers and have now taken four points off Belgium, their closest challengers and the team currently second in FIFA's world ranking. Striker Hal Robson-Kanu put their best-ever start to qualifying down to a combination of factors, starting with Bale's decisive individual quality, which brought his fifth goal in Group B – a confident piece of finishing after Radja Nainggolan's mistake.

"We have to say a massive thank you to Gareth," said Robson-Kanu, Bale's attacking partner who plays for English second-tier club Reading FC. "Gareth knows how much we value him in the squad, and in the nation. All the fans know how important he is but it is an 11-man team and we dig deep. The fans were absolutely unbelievable [too] – the national anthem at the start, after we scored the goal and at the end – we really felt the fans and they really were the 12th man."