Bellamy in despair as World dream dies again
Wales 0 Finland
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Your support makes all the difference.John Toshack had warned that any qualification hopes would evaporate in the air should his young Dragons fail to win this Group Four encounter, and so the Cardiff atmosphere duly took receipt of Wales's latest World Cup dream. If there had been any atmosphere, that is. A paltry crowd, that did not fill a third of this cavernous stadium, bothered to turn up to watch a "must-win" game that Toshack's side never looked like winning, or even drawing. And what made it all the more miserable was the reaction of their captain, Craig Bellamy. A gracious loser he was not.
"Finland are not a good side," said Bellamy. "What you saw today were two bad sides playing – neither of them have a glimmer of hope of qualifying. That is a fact, from what I've just seen. God knows where we go from here. It's the same old story for us. Out of the group. I do feel we are the better side even though we have just lost. They sucker-punched us really. I don't how Jonatan Johansson scored. He's not good enough to score. But did."
In fairness to Bellamy, he had only just left the pitch and was clearly distraught. When asked what Wales could do before Wednesday to get them through the challenge of Germany, he replied: "Don't ask me, mate. I don't know how we're going to get through the next hour."
Nobody had come into this match feeling so positive about collecting three points that would herald a bright Wales future. Nobody left feeling so despondent or, evidently, so bitter.
Bellamy's prediction that the young Welsh legs would do for the ageing Finns proved off-target. At 38, Jari Litmanen, the former Liverpool playmaker, was so influential he almost represented a good team all on his own. It was his perfectly weighted through-ball in the 42nd minute that opened up the opposition and yanked out their guts. His ball was so cute that it not only played in Johansson in between Welsh defenders but also dragged out the goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey. That allowed the midfielder to slip the ball into the net.
After Jussi Jaaskelainen had repelled Jason Koumas in the 50th minute, any red resistance died there and then. By now, Litmanen was in the comfort zone, dragging the lacklustre Welsh around at will.
At the back, Sami Hyypia enjoyed the armchair afternoon Liverpool had been hoping for as what passed for the Welsh surges repeatedly broke down in midfield. Regardless of what Bellamy was to claim, it would have been a travesty if Wales had equalised. In injury time, Shefki Kuqi, of Crystal Palace, gave the scoreline the bottom-heavy appearance it deserved.
Substitutes: Wales: Ramsey for Edwards (56), Robinson for Fletcher (65), Earnshaw for Ledley (71). Finland: Sjolund for A Eremenko (78), Kuqi for Forssell (89).
Bookings: Finland: Heikkinen, Jaaskelainen
Attendance: 22,604
Referee: Eduardo......... Gonzalez (Spain)
Man of the match: Litmanen
Match rating: 5/10
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