Phil Sumbler
Joe Allen finally made a return from injury on Friday as Wales left their World Cup hopes hanging by a string with a defeat to Iran but he knows that a win over England tomorrow will keep alive their hopes of qualification for the knockout stages.
The history books will always show that Wales were beaten by two late goals in the game but the reality was it was an under par performance from the start and that the two late goals could have just, in reality, sealed a much bigger win for the Iranians.
Several Wayne Hennessey saves, a disallowed goal and two strikes of the woodwork tell more of a story of Wales being dominated from the opening whistle and ther can have been little complaint in the Welsh camp when the dust settled on the defeat due to the very nature of it.
England’s 0-0 draw with USA later on Friday have kept alive the Welsh hopes of progression no matter how slim but they know that a win over England is the minimum they need to secure progression and – on the assumption it is unlikely to be by four or more goals – a reliance on the USA and Iran playing out a draw on top of that.
It doesn’t seem like something that is about to happen but as can so often happen in football sometimes the unexpected just happens – remember a certain night at Reading a little over two years ago?
Allen admits there is disappointment in the Welsh camp over the performances to date: “We’re not where we hoped to be two games into the group stage. In terms of what went wrong, I don’t think there’s any one thing you could put your finger on, ” he told BBC Sport.
“We’ve gone through everywhere we can improve and, so far, it’s not been a fair reflection of what we’re capable of.
“That’s been a real disappointment because we can offer so much more and we will certainly will have to do that in the next game. It’s not impossible, but it’s a tough task.
“It’s always uncomfortable when it’s not in your hands and you’re relying on certain things to unfold but, while there’s still a chance, it’s really simple for us.
“We’re fully motivated, fully incentivised into throwing absolutely everything into getting the win. Then, who knows? Hopefully, there’s a chance we can still get us out of this group.”
Welsh fans have said almost in unison that it is time for the team to give a performance and to leave the World Cup on a high. Taking nothing away from the sides from USA and Iran it is fair to say that Wales have not performed to the best of their ability in this competition. The USA side showed on Friday that England could be vulnerable so put all that together and maybe yet there is still one surprise ahead in the group.
After all, we are still here.
