Planet Swans ArchivesThis is by no means a foregone conclusion but with a capacity Millennium Stadium crowd behind them next Wednesday in Cardiff you know that Wales are good enough to finish the job off and book their place in their first major finals since Sweden and the World Cup of 1958.
Russia were viewed as favourites for this game before the encounter having scored 15 goals in their last four home qualifiers compared to Wales who only registered one point in their last four games in their group. It was a time for some players to stand up and be counted and they did that to a man.
Jason Koumas played undoubtedly his best game in a Welsh jersey whilst Danny Gabbidon and Andy Melville at the back controlled most of what the Russians could throw at them. Add to that the names of Delaney, Barnard and Paul Jones and you have one of the best back five performances for a while for Wales. Moving Gary Speed into the holding role in midfield looked a master stroke by Mark Hughes as the captain dropped back into defence when he was needed especially when Gabbidon looked to venture further forward.
John Hartson did what John Hartson does so well and Savage, Koumas, Giggs and Johnson looked assured in midfield and dangerous when they started to venture forward. In truth, Russia did not threaten Wales on many occasions and even when they did they was usually a Welsh leg there to block any chance that may have been created. In Cardiff I think this will be a different story as Wales maybe throw more at the Russians and I wonder if we will see the introduction of Robert Earnshaw into that particular game.
Wales struck lucky when Ryan Giggs should have been sent off for an elbow which the Russian player made the most of – something which could suggest that it could be their year after all – the luck when we get this close usually runs against us.
Mark Hughes can be rightly proud of his players tonight although he must warn them against any complacency in believing that the job is done. Remember that away goals count in the play offs and with none against our column on that front – that ball remains in the Russian’s court to take advantage of. It would be cruel to think that qualification would be taken from us again after so many near misses in the past – could this really be the year of the dragon?
Speaking after the game, Hughes expressed his disgust at the tactics of the Russians, concern about the flares being thrown on the pitch and confirmed that the job was only half done.
“The tackle was terrible, it was something you do not want to see. I was amazed it went unpunished.
“And the way their lad went down soon after, it did look like they were trying to get Ryan sent off.
“It was theatrical. Quite possibly they were at a stage when they needed to make something happen for them and maybe they felt by us losing a player it would help them.
“Ryan showed great restraint. But they are experienced international players now and they play a lot of club football in Europe, they know what happens and that experience came to the forefront.
“We were all a little worried about the flares, we did not expect they would reach the playing surface.
“It bothered me that because of the hold-ups there would be more time added on at the end.
“We all knew we had to produce a peak performance. You only get so many chances at this level, we should have qualified outright but now we have another opportunity and we intend to take it.
“We must get very careful we do not get ahead of ourselves now. That is what happened in the qualifying games when we did not beat Serbia and Finland when we expected to.
“That experience has helped us now. Afterwards the lads were delighted with the level of performance, but everyone knows it is only half way. We have had false dawns before but we do not want anymore glorious failures.”
