MY FIRST thought on sport in some months must begin with richly deserved praise for Wales' two chief sports teams.
Obviously when Wales beat Ireland to set-up a World Cup semi-final with France in the rugby people up and down the country rejoiced.
Rugby is much easier to gage where you are as a country in world terms and by being the last British team in the competition Wales can justifiably claim itself the best British nation.
Scotland crashed out in the group stage, paying the price for its squad selection. England disgraced themselves off the pitch and disappointed on it while the Irish were gallant second best to the Welsh in the last eight.
However during the euphoria caused by the rugby it is important not to forget our improved football results.
Due to football's world wide popularity and the controversial way FIFA ranks competing nations I suppose we should not have been that surprised when we became officially recognised among the worst nations in Europe.
Did I agree with the ranking? No. Do I think it has proved the best thing to happen to Welsh football in generations? Absolutely.
If nothing else it highlighted that having a sprinkling of quality in the squad was not sufficient and to compete nowadays you actually need a squad, a coaching system and a style.
I can admit that when the Welsh FA appointed Gary Speed as national manger I was far from impressed. My initial reaction was that once again the FAW had appointed the best Welsh manager available rather than the best candidate.
Speed had a poor managerial record at Sheffield United and his first few games as national manger were also poor.
However we have to admit, more likely through fluke than design, the FAW has pulled off a masterstroke in appointing Speed.
Speed can take credit for the confident passing style of the current Welsh side, he can also take credit for masterminding a strong end to an ultimately unsuccessful qualifying period.
Unfortunately the Welsh side ultimately paid the price for the John Toshack era which epitomized the darkest years in Welsh football history and only ended when the now Macedonia boss resigned.
Speed has had the good fortune of having Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey fully fit for the closing games while the likes of Wayne Hennessey, Craig Bellamy and, to a lesser extent Jack Collison, have shown themselves to be key.
Even more exciting for Welsh fans is that the majority of the team is young and, at least for now, they are at clubs which will not stand in the way of the players international careers (like Ferguson with Giggs)
Do not get me wrong, Welsh football is still riddled with problems. Domestically the national league is starved of funding, support and recognition from the Welsh FA while the actual association remains bloated in terms of its council membership to the point where the old adage of "too many cooks spoil the broth" becomes more like "too many cooks burn down the kitchen."
I still believe Welsh football is light years behind other associations in terms of organisation but these "useless cooks" are hardly going to vote on any streamlined membership which might cost them their swig from the gravy train.
This is especially true now. The fact that Welsh manager Gary Speed was accompanied by Welsh FA president Phil Pritchard and FAW secretary John Ford (yep a three man delegation) to Brazil for the draw for the 2014 World Cup shows that the latter pair must surely think that Wales will be heading for South America in three years time.
Why else bother going?