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It was embarrassing at Old Trafford last year as Wales rolled over and died against the lot from the other side of the Severn Bridge and naturally no-one wanted to see the same on our own patch this time around.
And the gulf between the two sides on paper is highlighted when you see Sam Ricketts on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Richard Duffy on Joe Cole. Carl Robinson trying to figure out whether Gerard, Beckham or Lampard poses the most threat and Danny Gabbidon marking Wayne Rooney. It’s scary when you read that.
Wales really didn’t have a prayer and with just 14 wins behind them in 98 attempts against the English there seemed little hope of making that total 15. This is a Welsh side that will struggle to qualify for Euro 2008 so maybe WC 2010 is a target that we should be working to. There is no-one coming through the ranks that appears to take on the mantle that allowed the likes of Speed, Giggs and Hartson to come so close to being in Portugal last summer.
And that is something that John Toshack knows and is working to. Cast your minds back to that tournament in Portugal and the eventual winners, Greece. Filled with players that on paper you wouldn’t give a chance to and yet they came through. With a series of 1-0 wins. Greece became a side very difficult to beat and so it proved last summer.
Of course I am not saying that Wales will do the same and win a major championship but what Greece proved is that you do not have to be laden with superstars just a willingness to play for each other. And maybe that willingness is what is missing in some of the sides that are laden with the said superstars.
Come on England should have won at a canter this afternoon. Man for man they had better players than us who perform at the top level week in week out. But in the end what separated the two sides was a deflected shot from Joe Cole and a world class save from Paul Robinson. A victory for England and three points for them but nowhere near the stroll in the park that everyone had us believe it would be.
Wales are not going to set the world stage on fire. But they are building something that could develop. When Mark Hughes built his side initially he made them harder to beat and that is what Toshack is working with. However, Toshack is far more astute then Hughes will ever be and he will not make the same mistakes in the same situations.
Looking to the future, I expect to see Wales fail to reach Euro 2008 but I expect to see them maybe only losing once or twice in trying with several draws. And when the World Cup qualifying draw for 2010 comes around then place some money on them, I have a feeling! And wouldn’t it be nice if that qualification involved a couple of wins over England along the way. Well, we can all dream.
Despite the defeat there is encouragement there today and this is an improvement from the side that rolled over at Old Trafford last October. And progress is all we can do at the moment.
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