Captain Gareth Bale said Wednesday’s win over Turkey in Baku puts Wales in a “great position” to reach the Euro 2020 last 16.
Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts scored to send Wales top of Group A on four points before Italy host Switzerland later on.
“The victory puts us in a great position,” Bale told the BBC.
“If you’d have offered us four points at the start we would’ve bitten your hand off,” he added.
A hostile crowd whistled every touch from Bale and his team-mate with the locals supporting the Crescent Stars due to historical links between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“It helped, playing in front of no fans it’s difficult to get the adrenaline going,” Bale said.
“The fans were fantastic, I know most of them were Turkish but the Wales fans were incredible.
“We want to thanks the fans at home too, I’m sure they’ll be cheering in their millions tonight,” he added.
Real Madrid forward Bale missed a second-half spot-kick before Roberts’ injury-time effort.
“We fought hard, we worked our socks off like we always do,” the 31-year-old said.
“I missed the pen but I showed good character and feel I helped the team keep going.”
