A rousing night at Cardiff City Stadium as Wales got themselves a seeding for the World Cup qualification Play Offs in March by finishing second in a group world number ones Belgium were always going to win. If the winners of the group were easy to pick before a ball had been kicked, the same could be said about the fight for second place – it was clearly going to be between Wales and the Czech Republic.
The fact that the group finished with both of these rivals scoring fourteen goals and conceding nine from their eight matches shows that the fight between the two was as close as expected, but Wales finished on fifteen points, one more than the Czechs because they edged the contests between the pair with a pretty fortunate single goal win in Cardiff in the spring and then a 2-2 draw which could so easily have been a win in the return last month.
It is to Wales’ great credit that they were able to overcome the disappointment of a goalless home draw with Estonia in September which looked like a killer blow at the time and, after grinding their way through much of 2020 and some of their early games in this group, later performances like the one in the Czech Republic, against Belarus on Saturday and now tonight were of a good quality which augers well for the future.
Tonight, the Czechs did what we didn’t- beat Estonia at home, by 2-0, but Wales were able to get the point they needed against those World number ones and, in the process, added to a record against the Belgians, over what is quite a long period now, which probably compares well with any other country in the world.
This was a deserved draw as well which saw Wales showing a degree of ambition which came as a surprise to me. Okay, Belgium dominated possession (76/24 according to the BBC) and it was some way from being the visitor’s A team so to speak, but the size of the task facing Wales could be judged by the Belgians away record in qualifiers under Roberto Martinez – twenty seven games played, two draws and the rest were won!
In fact, the Belgians last defeat in an away qualifier was in Cardiff six and a half years ago when Gareth Bale’s goal proved the difference between the teams (that is also the Belgians only defeat in their last forty seven qualifying group matches overall).
As for the goal scorer that night, it was reported yesterday that he wasn’t going to start the game (apparently, it was always the plan that he wouldn’t), but today it emerged that Bale would play no part at all, so it seems that, despite the denials last Saturday, injury did play a part in forcing him off at half time against Belarus.
There were always going to be two changes from Saturday then as Ethan Ampadu was going to be sitting the match out after his suspension for two bookings and it was no surprise to see Chris Mepham drafted in to replace him, Keiffer Moore, back after serving his ban, was always the likely replacement for Bale, but there was another change as Joe Morrell came in to replace Harry Wilson in an acknowledgement that Wales were likely to spend long periods without the ball during which defensive discipline would be vital.
Roared on by the full house crowd, Wales made an encouragingly positive start as they kept possession well and pressed effectively when Belgium had the ball, but the visitors got their bearings gradually and Wales were punished pretty soon afterwards by a clever, classy finish on twelve minutes from captain Kevin DeBruyne from the edge of the penalty area which was bent around three defenders to unsight Danny Ward who never had a hope of keeping out the low shot.
Wales had to endure a tough fifteen to twenty minutes after that as not conceding again became the priority as they chased shadows for a while, but, although there was a slickness and a style which we couldn’t match to much of the Belgian play, good, disciplined defending combined with an organisation which reflected well on the coach and his staff meant that Ward wasn’t seriously tested.
A Welsh equaliser looked a long way off though as the game reached the half hour mark, but, within two minutes, it had arrived. It was a well worked goal, which was finished well, but there was also some ropey defending in there from a team that, for all of its quality, usually gives their opponents a chance or two during over the ninety minutes.
The move started with a beautiful pass played down the left by Ben Davies which was curled in behind the full back for Dan James to run on to. The Leeds man was a little lucky in that his first two attempts to cross were blocked, but, in each case, the ball came back to him and his third attempt was swung at and missed by both Witsel and Theale and reached Keiffer Moore on the far post some ten yards out and the City striker showed how much his two goals against Huddersfield had boosted his confidence by controlling instantly, turning and firing low passed Casteels for what was probably the most important goal of his career so far.
Wales had a huge escape shortly afterwards when DeBruyne picked out an unmarked Thorgen Hazzard on the edge of the penalty area whose volley hit the post and flew wide and it was Moore who had the last effort of an exciting first half as he shot not too far over from twenty five yards.
The second half saw Belgium given a tougher time – indeed, Connor Roberts missed a very presentable chance within minutes of the restart when a James cross found its way to him on the edge of the penalty area with no defender within yards of him, but the wing back’s effort was badly sliced and flew well high and wide – an untypical effort from someone with decent finishing ability.
Wales spent the third quarter of the game on the front foot – maybe “rattled” is overstating it somewhat, but Belgium were thrown out of their smooth control by some fierce Welsh pressing which only served to make the atmosphere more raucous.
Neco Williams, outstanding again after his fine showing on Saturday, brought the beat out of Casteels with a wickedly swerving shot as Wales scented a win, but the visitors finished the stronger as the Welsh began to settle for the draw and Ward had to make his most difficult save of the night as the home fans endured some heart stopping moments before Wales’ second place was confirmed.
With teams such as Portugal, Italy and Sweden all failing to secure their qualification by winning their groups it was essential that Wales weren’t one of the six teams who have to play away next March, but now they know they’ll entertain one of Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Austria and the Czech Republic before a Final a few days later at a venue still to be decided – the draw for the Play Offs will take place on 26 November.
It was a poor day at age group level for Wales though as their under 17s missed out on a place in the Elite Group in the qualification process for the Euros through a combination of their 1-1 draw with Kazakhstan and a surprise win for Ukraine over Portugal, while the under 21s were beaten 1-0 at Rodney Parade by Switzerland with George Ratcliffe making the mistake which cost Wales the game I’m afraid.
