Wales have what they want. Home playoff semifinals in March next year.
They will find out this Thursday who will stand in their way of qualifying for the World Cup. But they proved themselves that they could get through the qualifying campaign and by being bold and brave, they could do the job required.
When first appointed as manager, Craig Bellamy said one of his immediate goals was to establish an identity within the team.
Supporters have seen this over the last 18 months as they have witnessed Wales look excellent. But that’s always the case. Sometimes things don’t work out, things don’t go as planned, and there may be some pain along the way.
Ask anyone who was at Wembley in October what lessons England taught them.
But with so much at stake for Wales, Bellamy’s side failed to produce just 20, 30 or 45 minutes of performance against North Macedonia. It was perfect. All of Wales’ good performances came during the 90 minutes.
Wales put in an outstanding performance against North Macedonia.
There are no mugs in North Macedonia. Going into this final qualifier, they were undefeated in seven games. Belgium has found prime numbers twice.
Moreover, all of North Macedonia needed a draw in Cardiff to overtake Wales for second place in Group J, which was more than they were capable of doing.
They had a slight edge on the physiological aspect of football before they kicked the ball. It didn’t matter.
Speed, speed, fast runner, smooth and fast. This is what Bellamy and his coaches have applied to Wales. The players continued to deliver memorable nights in Cardiff.
I need to bottle up my memories of this game and everything I learned leading up to it. If you can do it once and prove to yourself that you can do it, go and do it again.
These achievements and results could be worth millions of dollars to Wales. This gives them the best chance of qualifying for the World Cup through the playoffs.
Brennan Johnson celebrated after his goal gave Wales a 3-1 lead over North Macedonia.
Qualifying for a World Cup before a ball has been kicked is highly lucrative, so this ‘home’ pathway that Wales now have makes that a little more likely. Of course, it’s not a sure thing, but it’s much better to be at home and in pot 2 of the play-off draw.
Bellamy and his team will love the opportunity to play against anyone in Cardiff. It has become an inspirational home for the team and the crowd appreciates it. It was the pace and purpose of the Welsh players that carried the crowd on this occasion.
It’s not realistic to expect a 7-1 thrashing game after game. Things will be very different in March and no doubt whoever faces Wales will try to negate the strengths of Bellamy’s side – pace, short passing and movement.
Nonetheless, if Wales can replicate their strong pressing to the extent they did against North Macedonia and at times throughout this season, they will be nothing short of a nightmare to play against.
A look at the pitch map from the second half shows that the ball barely left the North Macedonian half and that Welsh players were swarming to win the ball back just seconds after losing it.
North Macedonia struggled to get out of their own half in Cardiff.
That will make Bellamy very happy and he will love showing and letting his players know how effective it is and will continue to do so in March and beyond.
When Wales train, I and other media have to watch the players train for 15 minutes and then leave. Bellamy is always very friendly and helpful, but we know he wants us to leave.
He wants to work without prying eyes, get the message out to the players and do more and more.
Now, after seeing that performance, you will understand how much work has gone into the training ground.
As things got suffocating in the second half, we returned to high pressure. Wales have become more ruthless, but this meticulously executed joint effort doesn’t just happen, it’s something that is repeated on the training pitch where it is deeply rooted.
Not long after the final whistle, Bellamy said the result and performance “I don’t believe was perfect… but it was perfect enough to be perfect.”
It doesn’t matter. It will be near perfect, and if you bottle the formula, you could make millions.
