| Product: |
Welsh National Football Team |
| Date: |
12/03/01 (42 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A promising bunch of players coming to the fore
Disadvantages: Lack of genuine firepower
First, lets make one thing clear - I don't pay any attention to FIFA's world rankings and Wales' very lowly place down the ladder. According to these rankings, Wales are a worse team than Vietnam! But are you seriously telling me that Wales would lose to Vietnam if they played them?!
As a patriotic Wales soccer fan, I have suffered a lot of disappointments over the years, and I have learned not to get too carried away with any false dawns! However, when the draw was made for the 2002 World Cup qualification round, I felt it could have come out a lot worse for Wales. They were put into a group with Ukraine, Poland, Norway, Belarus and Armenia. With the group predominantly comprising Eastern European teams, the Welsh travel agents were probably groaning somewhat, but I felt having avoided drawing a team like Italy, Germany or Spain, Wales had a reasonable chance of finishing near the top of the group. All the other teams seemed beatable.
The opening match, a 2-1 defeat to Belarus, soon made me change that opinion. It just seemed like the same old story all over again. But I had tickets for the next match against Norway in Cardiff, so I had the prospect of seeing my first Welsh home match 'in person' to look forward to.
The game ended in a 1-1 draw, and I had a great day out. What was especially enjoyable was the quality of the football - not just from Norway (because I would expect that) but also from Wales! The Welsh team looked extremely solid and confident and it was a pleasure to watch. Wales took the lead with a super header from Nathan Blake and held onto it until ten minutes to go when the Norwegians equalised with (bias aside!) a somewhat scrappy effort. I felt a draw was a fair result but I also believe Wales played well enough to have won.
Four days later Wales achieved a very satisfying 0-0 draw in Poland. I felt that the team didn't really get the credit they deserved for that result - Wales were
the first team to take any points off Poland in that group. It was also the first time in four years that Wales had kept a clean sheet in a competitive game. Perhaps things are starting to look up!
So what is causing this cautious optimism? Maybe it’s the fact that, after several years, Wales finally have a magnificent international standard stadium at which to play all their home games. In the past, Wales have conducted their home campaigns around varies venues (Anfield, Wrexham, Cardiff) and the lack of continuity might have hindered their progress. Furthermore, the Welsh FA's decision to keep ticket prices relatively low for these home games (bravo!) means that the team is guaranteed to play to a full house in a great atmosphere.
Maybe it is because we have a Welsh manager at the helm once more in Mark Hughes, who can genuinely stir some of that Welsh fire in the belly. This is no sense a swipe on my part at his predecessor Bobby Gould. Unlike the majority of Welshmen I actually warmed to Gould a couple of years after he took over. I enjoyed an interview he did on 'Football focus' when he said that he regarded being Welsh manager as the 'pinnacle of his career'. Wales also had an excellent victory in Denmark under his stewardship. After Wales got thumped 4-0 by Italy in 1999, I respected Gould for having the bravery to resign, realising that he had probably taken the team as far as he could have done. (I'd like to hear some comments / opinions about this from you other Welsh fans out there)
Maybe it is because of a much more simple reason - we currently have a set of decent players coming to the fore. Specifically, I say this with the defence in mind - the statistic about the Poland game speaks for itself. Robbie Page (Watford) and Mark Delaney (Aston Villa) were outstanding during the Norway game. Goalkeeper Paul Jones, despite his mistake against his Belarus, seems to be improving with every game and i
s undoubtedly a worthy successor to the legendary Neville Southall. I still have my doubts about Chris Coleman. He plays well for Fulham but I feel, on the international stage, he is something of a liability. He is currently recovering from a car crash and I wish him well.
The midfield is showing promise too. There's not a lot you can say about the wonderful Ryan Giggs that hasn’t already been said - I just wish he could perform as consistently well for his country as he does for his club. It is of course a different kettle of fish playing against the world's best defenders. Leicester's Robbie Savage has the potential to be one of Wales' greatest ever players. His work rate is phenomenal - no other player on the pitch covers as much ground during a game as Savage. If he could phase some of his reckless tackles and somewhat petulant retaliations out of his game (which as he matures, I'm sure he will), that potential could well be fulfilled.
It is the attack I feel less confident about. I've got great hopes for young Craig Bellamy (Coventry), but like Savage, he must remove the petulance from his game. Because of his dismissal in the first match for giving a Belarus player a clip around the ear (although TV replays suggested that Bellamy was as much sinned against as the sinner so I was puzzled as to why Bellamy was red-carded and the other guy wasn't even booked), I didn't have the pleasure of watching him in the Norway game.
Until John Hartson gets fitter and loses some weight I find it hard to believe that Wales will achieve much with a lumbering carthorse like him up front! (Make me eat my words John!) His transfer to Coventry was good news for Wales however, because it means that Hartson and Bellamy are going to get to know each other's game inside out and hopefully develop an excellent partnership. Blackburn's Nathan Blake scored a great goal against Norway, but I'd like to see him pla
ying for a premiership club on a regular basis - the gap between first division and international football is a difficult one to which to adjust.
So can Wales qualify? If I were a betting man I'd say no - because they never do! In all seriousness, two points out of nine isn't too clever, so I think that if they don't take at least four points out of their next two games at the end of this month (Armenia away, Ukraine home) then they've had it for another campaign. Delaney's absence from these two matches through injury will make the task even harder. But who knows, with all six teams taking points off each other, this group is truly open. Whatever happens, I feel for the first time in years that Wales have a soccer team that I can respect. Bring on Armenia!
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