Wales rue absence of authority

Road to Euro 2004: Hughes's men have performed small wonders to get this far. Now the passion play-offs beckon

The immutable postscript to a small nation prospering on the sporting stage is that achievements are swiftly outpaced by expectation. So it was in Cardiff on Wednesday night, when the failure of Wales to defeat Finland virtually ensured that Mark Hughes's team will finish runners-up to Italy in Group Nine of the Euro 2004 qualifying competition.

The fact that the Welsh will merely come second behind one of the continent's top three countries, one who reached the competition's last final in 2000, was castigated in some quarters as failure. The guarantee of a place in November's play-offs was not enough, for instance, for John Toshack, once a giant of a player but less impressive in his role of pundit. "To have missed out the way we have is shocking," he complained, adding that he would have preferred an Italian win in Serbia, rather than the draw they managed. Then, presumably, Wales's own draw would have been easier to bear. "What's so frustrating is that we have come so close again," said Toshack.

What should be lauded is that Wales, in the face of recent stumbles, have done well enough to come close. They are still at the races for a place in Portugal next summer. When his tight little squad is depleted by injury and suspension, Hughes does not possess replacements of sufficient quality to provide adequate cover for absentees such as Robbie Savage, Craig Bellamy and Mark Delaney.

Though Finland (themselves missing their top man, Jari Litmanen) are very much another one of the minnow nations, with a population of five million compared to Wales's three million, their inevitably exiled stars play for some of Europe's choicest clubs. That quality showed in everything except their finishing, which was so abysmal that you pondered whether ballooning a ball is perhaps a Finnish pastime or custom. When Finland eventually found the range, further encouraged by the harsh dismissal of Jason Koumas, they were denied by the brilliance of Paul Jones. Watching from the other end of the field, Antti Niemi was offered compelling evidence why he has been unable to reclaim from his Southampton clubmate the goalkeeping place that was his last season.

In the end, Wales came within 10 minutes of hanging on to a lead which would have lit the skies for Toshack and every-body else in Wales. That they were distinctly lucky to have escaped clear defeat no longer matters, though the Finns were entitled to have been up in arms, in every sense. Simon Davies's third-minute goal arrived via a controlling left arm, while the penalty-area incident in which Koumas's upflung arm deflected a Finland free-kick went even more blatantly unpunished by the Spanish referee.

"Though we scored early we never stamped our authority on the game," said Jones. "Our first-half display was disappointing. For some reason we took our foot off the gas, and then when Jason got sent off it was backs against the wall, really. It was just disappointing that we couldn't hold on to the lead. At the start of the qualifying we would have been happy with a play-off position, but we are disappointed now because we know we could have done better than that. Whoever we get in the play-offs will have to come to the Millennium Stadium, though, where our crowd are tremendous."

Only Holland and Slovenia are so far certainties to be in those play-offs, with the other eight groups poised to be decided by the final games on 11 October. The enticing prospect, should Italy win Group Nine with the formality of home success over Azerbaijan, is two legs against Scotland, perhaps Ireland, or even England. And in the opinion of their battering-ram striker, John Hartson: "That would be superb".

In addition to Wednesday's absentees, Andy Melville was playing for the first time this season, Mark Pembridge had been unable to train since coming back from the defeat in Italy, and Hartson himself is still short of fitness because of a four-month lay-off following back surgery. "Whoever we get drawn against, I just hope we have a full-strength squad," said Hartson. "With all our players we have beaten Germany and Italy in Cardiff. I'm not being disrespectful to those who have come in, but we need our best 11 out if we want to win games, because we haven't got a massive squad."

Two of Wednesday's stand-ins, Rhys Weston and Robert Earnshaw, play their football with Cardiff City, until this season a Second Division club, and both looked out of their depth. When the ball arrived at his feet inside the Finland box in the final seconds, Earnshaw fell over. The man he was replacing, Bellamy, would surely have buried the chance.

Inexperience was a big factor with Earnshaw, but no such reason could be advanced for Ryan Giggs's failure to penetrate on a night when Wales managed two shots to Finland's 15. Perhaps trying to find Earnshaw, rather than Ruud van Nistelrooy, running into space was too baffling for the Manchester United man.

It fell in the end to the captain, Gary Speed, to issue the rallying cry for what lies ahead. "Looking at possible play-off opponents you'd go mad," he said. "First, let's beat Serbia at home in our last qualifier. We haven't lost here for a long time, and for this place to be the fortress we want it to be it is important to keep winning. We can give anyone a game on our day. Let's just hope it's our day."