Cardiff to host 2017 Champions League final

Wales will get its first taste of a European cup final in 2017, after the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was selected to host that year's Champions League final.

The stadium was selected by the UEFA executive committee to host the continent's biggest match, which is set to be played June 3. The women's final will take place two days earlier.

"We believe that staging both the 2017 Uefa Champions League final and 2017 Uefa Women's Champions League final will have a positive and long-lasting effect on Welsh football," chief executive Jonathan Ford said on the Football Association of Wales website.

The stadium, which was built in 1999 and has a capacity of 74,500, hosted several British cup finals shortly after its grand opening. It was the destination for the FA Cup final, League Cup final, Community Shield, and Football League play-offs while Wembley Stadium underwent renovations.

The country's most famous football player, Gareth Bale, who has already won a trophy at the stadium when Real Madrid beat Sevilla in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup, is hoping for a chance to be one of the 22 players on the pitch when the match kicks off.

"I know how passionate the Welsh football fans are, so it’s great the UEFA Champions League Final is coming to my home city of Cardiff," the Real Madrid star said. "I loved playing in the UEFA Super Cup last year and it would be fantastic to be involved in front of a packed crowd at such an iconic stadium in 2017.”

Aaron Ramsey, meanwhile, shares similar dreams of performing on the biggest stage in front of his fellow countrymen.

It's a consolation of sorts for the country after Wales missed out on the opportunity to host matches during the 2020 European Championship, which will be played in 13 different venues around the continent.