Ramsey revelling in historic Wales win

Aaron Ramsey lavished praise on the current Wales Under-21 crop after his goal helped secure arguably the best win in their 33-year history at this age group, overcoming Italy 2-1 in Group 3.

France scalp
The Arsenal FC midfielder struck midway through the second half to down a side who reached the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-finals, after Italy's Alberto Paloschi had cancelled out an early Christian Ribeiro effort. The result ranks at least alongside the 4-2 success against France in November 2007 that paved the way for Wales to reach the play-offs as group winners, where they were eventually beaten 5-4 on aggregate by England.

Wales improving
"It was a really good night for the boys – everyone dug in for the victory," said Ramsey. "It was difficult at the start, but we grew in confidence and deserved the victory. I was very pleased with my goal, maybe one of my best. To do that against a side like Italy was especially pleasing. They are at the very top of all age groups, so the win underlines just how much we are improving. Most people would have doubted we could even draw against them, but to beat Italy anywhere is a real triumph."

Team spirit
With three consecutive home victories under their belts, Brian Flynn's side top Group 3 with ten points from four matches while Italy have yet to get off the mark after their opening qualifier in Swansea. And the 18-year-old Ramsey believes that predicament, coupled with the excellent team spirit in the Wales camp, gives them a realistic chance of finishing at the head of a section which also contains Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Luxembourg.

'Good position'
"We are now in a good position at the top of the group," added Ramsey, who already has seven caps for the full international side. "We are ten points ahead of Italy even if they do have three games in hand. This team means as much to me as playing for the seniors. We have a great bunch of lads who have grown up together and want to have success with the U21s. Achieving success with these lads is my ambition."

Toshack call-ups
The exploits of those players have not gone unnoticed by senior manager John Toshack either. Shaun MacDonald, Andy King and Ribeiro will all join Ramsey as Wales prepare to face Russia in Wednesday's FIFA World Cup qualifier before returning to U21 qualification matters with a visit from Bosnia-Herzegovina on 10 October.