Ben Cabango says Wales cannot take minnows Liechtenstein lightly

Ben Cabango insists Wales can not take Liechtenstein for granted in World Cup qualifying action after suffering previous summer misery.

Wales lost a double-header at home to Armenia – ranked 97th in the world at the time – and away to Turkey two summers ago as their hopes of reaching Euro 2024 were badly damaged.

Rob Page’s managerial reign then came to an embarrassing end after two June friendlies 12 months ago, a goalless draw against Gibraltar’s part-timers and a 4-0 defeat in Slovakia.

Failing to beat Liechtenstein, who are 205th out of FIFA’s 210 ranked nations, in Cardiff on Friday would come as a seismic shock to Wales’ ambitions of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

‘Tough’

Swansea defender Cabango said: “You obviously don’t see them playing a lot, but these games have always been tough in the past.

“I’m guessing they’re probably going to sit in and hope to break us on the counter-attack, set-pieces as well.

“It’s going to be tough to break them down, it’s always hard to do that against teams who play with a back five and just sit in.

“It gets quite annoying sometimes because you’re constantly attacking to find a breakthrough.

“You’ve got to stay patient. That’s why you’ve got to prepare well and make sure everyone is on it.”

Unbeaten

Wales remain unbeaten since Craig Bellamy succeeded Page, his eight-game run – four wins and four draws – the best start made by any Dragons manager.

Bellamy faces the biggest test of his reign three days after the Liechtenstein game against Group J favourites Belgium in Brussels.

Cabango said: “From his first meeting you could tell how much he wanted to achieve here.

“Straight away he wanted to drill things into us and I feel like he’s not laid off that one bit.

“We’re not in camp for a large amount of time, so it’s quite intense when we are here.

“I feel like he needs to do that in the way he plays to get the best out of us, and in that short time you can see the improvements he has made in the squad.”

Wales began their bid for back-to-back World Cup appearances in March with a 3-1 home victory over Kazakhstan.

David Brooks rescued a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia three days later, with an equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time just moments after the hosts had scored.

“I felt it just showed us, going to the final whistle,” said Cabango.

“It was disappointing to concede after playing so well, but I think a lot of teams would have gone under.”