Wales v Luxembourg Match Report

Wales v Luxembourg
I was hoping to be able to write a really interesting review of all the goals as seen from my point of view. But unfortunately I made a detour to the first aid room which was supposed to be very brief but the first aiders decided the dizziness I was suffering was a heart problem (which it wasn’t) and they sent me to hospital which meant I had to MISS the rest of the match! While waiting for the ambulance, I kept asking the first-aiders to check the score for me and every time they went out, another goal was scored. I thought they were joking the first few times!

Any anxiety on my part could be because I seemed to have jinxed Gareth Bale, as if the poor boy hasn’t already had enough jinxes in his life. I saw his car go past me and assumed he was fit to play. Not only that, I posted it on the Internet. Then I got to the stadium and he wasn’t in the squad. Oops.

Annoyingly the bits I saw mostly took place at the other end of the stadium but I did get a good view of Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter at left back, and Aaron Ramsey whom I walked past on the way to the first aid room. Naturally I had to walk back again and have a good stare to check it was him (it was) but I didn’t speak to him in case I fainted and he started thinking he was all irresistible like a lot of footballers seem to think they are.

The fact that most of the action was at the other end of the pitch was a good sign. Craig Bellamy was the stand-out player but all the attacking players looked good. The presence of Steve Morison really seemed to make a difference, even if all he was doing was making the others work extra hard so they didn’t get shown up by a player who was playing non-league football just over a year ago.

David Cotterill soon confirmed my view that he should have been in the squad to start with (not often I get to be right, let me enjoy it) when he scored a stunning goal that didn’t quite come out of nowhere given Wales’ threat but it was still a lovely shock when it happened. Wales were ahead after 35 minutes.

The equaliser was unfortunate but it really looked as though it was going over the go and Wayne Hennessey probably thought the same but then at the last moment it dipped under the bar and went into the back of the net. I hate horrible sneaky goals like that. Especially when they happen just a minute before half-time and there’s no chance to restore the advantage.

As for the rest, I didn’t see it but I was thrilled to hear about it later. Joe Ledley’s 48th-minute penalty means we have now scored two penalties in a row and after missing three in a row, that really is something of a relief. Andy King’s goal in the 55th minute looked pretty good considering I only saw it in a picture and the whole point of goals is that the ball moves. After 78 minutes, defender Ashley Williams got the fourth, showing that Wales’ goalscorers come from all over the pitch. It was also great to hear Craig Bellamy scored as he had a great game and really deserved a goal. Hopefully he loved the feeling so much, he’ll never want to miss a game for Wales again. The winner came in the 82nd minute.

Wayne Hennessey started in goal while Sam Ricketts, Craig Morgan, Ashley Williams and Chris Gunter made up the defence. It looked as though Craig Bellamy was playing in midfield, alongside Brian Stock, David Cotterill and Joe Ledley. Steve Morison and Robert Earnshaw played up front

John Toshack made three changes at half-time. Boaz Myhill took over in goal, with Andy King and David Vaughan replacing Brian Stock and Rob Earnshaw (perhaps Craig Bellamy became a striker here). Andrew Crofts came off the bench a minute before Craig’s winner – he replaced David Cotterill. The final substitution came in the85th minute, with Neal Eardley coming on in place of Sam Ricketts. Jason Brown was the only squad member not to get a run-out but using three different goalkeepers in the same match is pretty unusual.

So I didn’t see much of the match in the end. But if I’d been offered the chance to go to hospital and guaranteeWales a 5-1 victory, I would have taken it. In a second.