Realistically, Wales’ Nations League game in Helsinki against Finland was never going to be a classic given that both teams were well below full strength and the players who were there were nearly all short of match practice as they prepare for a new season with nowhere near the amount of time or matches they would normally have to prepare for the new campaign.
I thought there was a very good chance that the game would finish goalless and I wasn’t too far out in my prediction as there were only ten minutes play left when the only goal was scored.
That it came for Wales and was scored by Cardiff City’s Keiffer Moore was a bonus and, to be fair, I think we were a little flattered by the win, but, when you consider the circumstances and that we had such a young and inexperienced line up at the time, it is so encouraging – Bale, Ramsey, Allen, Brooks, Rodin, Mepham, Williams and Chester (apologies for anyone I forgot) were among those not involved after half time today and it is an impressive achievement to go to a side that qualified for their first major tournament last autumn and win while giving debuts to a couple of teenagers and a twenty year old.
Ryan Giggs decided to move Ethan Ampadu into central defence alongside Adam Lockyer, stuck with Joe Morrell in central midfield and handed a first cap to Manchester United’s Dylan Levitt alongside him, while Johnny Williams was preferred to Harry Wilson in the number ten role and Gareth Bale given an all too rare start these days out on the right and, for a while, this rather makeshift looking line up looked too good for the Finns.
The visitors would have led in four minutes if an officious referee, who managed to caution seven players in a game that was competitive but never dirty, had not seen fit to penalise Moore for a foul of a type that you would never see given against a defender in the penalty area. The centre forward nodded in a fine cross by Daniel James and the winger, making a fast start to the match, then sent over another testing ball which was diverted towards goal by a defender forcing keeper Hradecky into a block which fell to Bale. It was the sort of chance a match sharp Bale may well have taken, but, with his relationship with Real Madrid at a virtual stalemate, which shows little sign of ending any time soon, he knocked the ball wide – it was no surprise to see Bale withdrawn for Harry Wilson at half time and it is a concern as a Wales fan to think that the situation with him could lead to more of the same over the coming months as the only competitive football he plays will be for his country..
The stats show that Wales only had three goal attempts with just the one on target and did not force a corner, so that rather tells the story that we did little to suggest we’d score once the Finns came through our impressive first quarter unscathed. That said, Wales followed up the two James inspired efforts with some impressive passing for a while as, aided by sloppy Finnish mistakes, they suggested they could win fairly comfortably.
However, if the first quarter was Wales’, then the second and probably third belonged to the hosts. It wasn’t that they were ripping us apart or anything, far from it in fact, but they were starting to look stronger and fitter than us and Temmu Puki offered a reminder of the time when he couldn’t stop scoring for Norwich and his country with a crisp, first time shot beyond Wayne Hennessy into the corner of the net amid relief that the whistle had already gone for a correctly awarded offside against Pohjanpalo.
The feeling Finland were edging things intensified as they enjoyed their best period of the match in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the second half, but there was little in the way of an end product from the home until very poor marking by Wales from a corner saw an uncontested header drop for centre back Vaisenen who, in a candidate for worst miss of the twenty first century, contrived to hit the post from about two yards out with no opponent near him.
After that, it looked almost as if the Finns thought they could never score after a miss like that, but, with Wales’ passing showing few signs of regaining its former fluency, it only meant that I became increasingly confident that my pre game 0-0 prediction would be proved right.
Ben Davies, captaining the side in Bale’s absence offered a little encouragement with a neat run down the left which took him into the Finland penalty area, but the home defence were able to deal with the full back’s cut back – they weren’t so watchful some five minutes later though.
Davies was involved again as he received a quickly taken free kick from Morrell and made his way forward into the opposition half. The Finns had been caught on the hop somewhat by the quickly taken set piece and there was a huge gap behind the right back O’Shaughnessy for James to run onto if a pass of sufficient quality was played. Predictably, Davies came up with that pass, James was freed to make his way deep into the penalty area and his cross when it came was[1] almost from the bye line.
Although Hradecky got his hand to Moore’s point blank range shot from James’ cross, he had no chance of keeping it out, so the striker who has become so important for Wales lately completed a hat trick of away goals for his country while still waiting for his first one at home.
Finland resorted to going long after that and, apart from when one of their players managed to work himself into a position similar to the one James had got into for the goal deep into added time, Wales encountered few problems. In fact, the closest either side came to a second goal was when Neco Williams, making his debut as. a substitute for his namesake Johnny, got the other side of his marker, but could not quite control the long diagonal ball played to him with his first touch.
Swansea’s Ben Cubango became the third debutante when he came on for James with a couple of minutes left and for that short while Wales had two centrebacks who had been connected. with Cardiff City as youngsters – neither were deemed good enough by the club’s Academy however. Lockyer has made it into the Championship following his rejection by us and a move to Luton recently has ensured he will stay there for the upcoming season – I daresay there will be City fans who’ll say he’s not good enough for us, but here, as with all of his Wales appearances, he did not look out of place at all.
Levitt although doing nothing that was eye catching, was an assured presence in the middle of the park and Morrell, in much the same way as Lockyer, looked at home at this level again despite a CV which suggests that might not be the case.
James was Wales biggest attacking threat, but best player for Wales by some way for me was Ampadu who provided all of the ability to play out from the back that you hoped he would, but also defended really well with some great anticipation and positioning – I’d hope he will be a part of a Welsh back three or four from now on because it’s easy to see what he could give us from that position.
Elsewhere, the other sides in our group, Bulgaria and the Republic of Ireland played out a1-1 draw in Sofia and, in club football, no sooner had I said on here that I didn’t think City would be playing any more warm up games, than I learned a game with Cheltenham at Cardiff City Stadium would be played a few hours later! City won it by 2-1 thanks to a twenty five yard volley back of a goalkeeper’s punch by Leandro Bacuna and a header from a Marlon Pack free kick by Aden Flint.
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