Night Out
Hartson, Dai, Anne and Matt…
Bluebird Mark Sly offers us a South Walian view…
What an entertaining evening!
Its not often I agree with the bland ramblings of the Welsh press, but I have to agree with the hack who described Wales v Ukraine as the best international seen at Cardiff since the famous Wales v RCS game in 1993. Everyone who was present at the game left appreciating the brilliance of the match, despite the obvious disappointment of another Welsh draw.
The night started off bizarrely. The fine hostelries of our capital city were packed with Ukrainian supporters - some in cossack traditional outfits, some singing Ukrainian folk songs and others with thick Scouse accents. I remember during my historical studies, reading about the large Ukrainian immigrant population that arrived in Britain to avoid Stalin’s persecution. I have always thought that is the beauty of the British education system - useless as a career path but invaluable for collecting trivial facts and improving performance in pub quizzes!
As for the game itself, there was a healthy crowd of 46,000, which is not bad considering it was a midweek match and that Wales’ slim qualification hopes all but ended in Armenia. The atmosphere was pretty good with an impressive noise being generated from the Ukrainian end.
The game started as most people had expected with Ukraine showing all the technique and the Welsh defence looking stretched. Then, with just 12 minutes gone, Hartson’s excellent finish sent the Millennium Stadium into delirium. Although Wales competed bravely, with Matthew Jones being the star performer in midfield, the rest of the half was largely the Ukraine’s with the brilliant Shevchenko causing lots of problems and Paul Jones making a couple of decent saves.
There was the usual fear of deja vu at the start of the second half when Shevchenko equalised from close range, after slack Welsh marking. What then followed was 40 minutes of superb entertainment, as both sides went for a much needed win. Wales played some wonderful football, which was reminiscent of the Hughes, Ratcliffe, Rush era. Bellamy, Giggs and Robinson all stood out. Especially impressive was second half sub Simon Davies who showed enough skill to suggest a bright future for both Spurs and Wales. The Ukrainians always looked dangerous, particularly with the home side’s fragile defence. Bellamy twice squandered golden chances to win the game, although it must be said that the visitors also came close. A brilliant game of football ended 1-1.
Where are Wales now after two more draws? Whilst they are definitely improving and becoming difficult to beat, I can’t see much success with the defence we currently have. They are game players who play their heart out for the shirt but, with the exception of Delaney, they are Nationwide players who will always be found wanting. Midfield is looking OK for the future, especially considering the performances of youngsters Robinson, Davies and Jones. Gary Speed has been a loyal servant of Welsh football but must now be worried for his place after two largely anonymous performances. The major plus point has been Hartson. Finally, he has got himself mentally and physically fit and is at last showing his true potential. In addition, Bellamy looks at home at this level, although he needs to find a clinical finish from somewhere!
In conclusion, the dream is over for another campaign. The concerning thing is this was possibly Wales’ best chance of a top 2 finish, given the lack of a world-power in the group and Norway’s terminal decline. The most laughable thing of the whole event was the pathetic ramblings of the deranged druid, Dai Davies, stating that Wales would only qualify if they went back to the Racecourse. I never rated him as a keeper and think even less of him as a pundit. He obviously has not seen the crowds that football has generated at the Millennium Stadium and when did Wales ever qualify for anything when they did play at the Racecourse? When it comes to idiots like Dai Davies and Mark Aizlewood - perhaps Anne Robinson had a point!
Rich Williams gives us a North Walian perspective…
This could only be described as a ‘must win' game if Wales are going to have any sort of chance of reaching, for the first time since 1958, the FIFA World Cup finals. Qualification chances look bleak, as Poland are firm favourites to qualify, being seven points ahead of us, with Belarus and Ukraine both on seven points in second and third.
Ukraine, with their devastating strikeforce of Rebrov and Shevchenko are currently third in Group 5 and are four points ahead of us, so nothing less than a win will do us in our fifth qualifying game of the campaign. There was, I have to say, some confusion on my part as to where the game was to be played. First instincts told me that the Millennium Stadium was the obvious choice, but when SkySports.com TV announced that the game was to be played in Swansea, I was a little bit apprehensive. I phoned up the coach company, Portfolio, who had booked both the coach seats
or myself and my Dad, and the tickets for the game, and they convinced me that it was to be held in Cardiff. With that little foible out of the way, I was free to count down the days until the crunch match. The travel down to the capital wasn’t as traumatic as last time (Norway) and there was a calm and optimistic feeling among the fans on the coach. We were quite early arriving in Cardiff; we got there at about 5 o’clock, some two and a half hours before kick-off, so it gave us a chance to browse the city a little. The Welsh fans, to their credit, were in good spirits about the game and there was, without doubt, a sense of optimism about getting three points.
The team chosen was: Jones, Delaney, Barnard, Melville, Page, Speed, Jones, C. Robinson, Giggs, Bellamy, Hartson. On paper, that looks reasonable. But, as always with Wales, an impressive team on paper isn’t always as impressive on the pitch. The Millennium Stadium looked dazzling, with around 60,000 screaming Welshmen and, with the newly-laid pitch (the best in Europe some say), it would be hard, if we did lose, to put blame on the surroundings. Wales started the game on the back foot. The defence on past occasions has been poor, but in the first 20 minutes or so, they were excellent. Wales came out of their shell after Ukraine had dominated the early stages, and Hartson belted a left-wing cross past Olexandr Shovkovskyi into the net. 1-0, with only 12 minutes on the clock. We couldn’t sit back, as we all knew what that would mean (Norway game, anyone?).
But a lack of concentration - always Wales’ Achilles Heel. And with world-class strikers lurking around, the defenders, Delaney especially, couldn’t linger when in possession. But, when Vorobey got the better of the right-back, and crossed the ball perfectly in for the awaiting Shevechenko, he had the simplest of tasks to just tap the ball past the unlucky Jones, who kept Ukraine at bay for the majority of the game. Damn. Just when the unlikely was likely, Ukraine snatched an undeserved equaliser, but with 40 minutes remaining, there was still hope that we would get the badly needed win. Mark Hughes made some controversial substitutions, Simon Davies on for the Jones was expected, but Saunders on for goalscorer Hartson? Even if it was Deano’s 74th cap for Wales, and he could be the hero if he scored, Hartson was looking dangerous, and could score at any moment. Both teams battled hard, and it looked like the win could go either way. Bellamy missed a superb chance, as did some of the Ukraine forwards. A draw was probably a fair result.
There is still a slim hope of qualification, but we have to win against Poland in June (at the Millennium) and Ukraine, as well as Armenia and Norway in September. Nothing other than four wins will do to assure qualification.