Craig Bellamy was ‘Mr Calm’ as Wales struggled against Kazakhstan – Ben Davies
Phil Blanche, PA
Ben Davies praised Craig Bellamy for being “Mr Calm” at half-time as Kazakhstan threatened to derail Wales’ World Cup adventure at the very first stop.
Wales owed their 3-1 victory in Cardiff to second-half goals from captain Davies and Rabbi Matondo after Daniel James’ early effort had been cancelled out by Askhat Tagybergen’s penalty.
“The players were the ones that were the most frustrated at half-time, whereas Bellamy came in Mr Calm,” Davies told BBC Wales.
“He came in with a plan, was clear in the messaging he gave us and what he expected in the second half.
“He simply asked for more energy and keep doing what we were doing.”
Wales are now unbeaten in seven games since Bellamy took charge last summer.
They topped their Nations League group in the autumn, winning promotion to join the top European nations, and now head to North Macedonia on Tuesday with their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup up and running.
Bellamy said: “We need to be patient with the ball and supporters need to be patient as well.
“I still hear the shouts, ‘get it forward, get it there.’ I know, but I’m not hitting up ‘there’ when we have the numbers ‘here’. I much prefer our players being on the ball than not.
“For me it’s something different to maybe what’s been asked of Wales before.
“I’m not here to see this is right and that was wrong. But how I look at the game, it was going to be a test for them.”
North Macedonia began their World Cup campaign on Saturday with a 3-0 victory in Liechtenstein.
“They’re a good team,” Bellamy said of the upcoming challenge in Skopje. “We have to be at our best.
“I like the challenge of being able to prepare a team to go to somewhere like North Macedonia.
“You have to embrace that and be excited about it.
“We’ve done a lot of work on them, so we’ll see where they’re at.
“It’s going to be a difficult game, we’ll need a different type of profile, a different type of energy for that game.”
Group favourites Belgium, currently involved in the Nations League play-offs, begin World Cup action in June.
Wales had to wait until the final minute before victory was sealed by Rabbi Matondo’s first international goal.
The Cardiff-raised winger, currently on loan at German club Hannover from Rangers, swept home Sorba Thomas’ cross to delight his home crowd.
Bellamy said: “I’ve known Rabbi since he was very young. It’s been so good having him in the group.
“He’s such a character he’s so funny, the players and staff love him, you can’t help but love him.”
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Reading the headline immediately brings on thoughts to anyone that didn’t know the final score that Cymru had lost…. not won! What is it with journalists that do that? Do they get a thrill? A triumphant sounding headline would have been so much better with reference to the downside a little later on in the report. Have you noticed how English reporters write headlines that give the impression that England has won even if they’ve lost? That applies to any sport. The world is aware of the state of Cymru rugby but during a period like this reporters could give… Read more »
Watched the match. Good game. Wales was always in control, although some of the ref decisions were questionable. The atmosphere was a little flat at times, sure, but other than the opportunist penalty and few shots on goal saved thought Kazakhstan didn’t have many threats other than Tagybergen.