Wales 0-0 Israel: One More Point

The second part of my day of football would see me heading into my third country in as many days. It was only Friday morning when I flew back from Cyprus, and after recovering and going to the earlier match in England I was heading back into Wales once again for the biggest match of the lot.

As mentioned in the last post, as soon as the full time whistle blew at the Bristol Rovers game my friend and I rushed out of the ground, heading straight to the car parked on the main road and within minutes we were back on the motorway. It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since the end of the match before we had crossed the Severn Bridge, and despite some pretty bad traffic on the local road in Cardiff leading to the ground we still managed to park up at the Cardiff City Stadium in time to watch the Wales squad arrive for the match.

I had been to a number of Wales games at this stadium before, and whilst crowds have been good recently I have never seen an atmosphere outside the ground quite like this. With more than an hour until kick off the whole surrounding area was packed with red shirts, and the place had a real buzz around it, with everyone knowing that a win would secure qualification to their first tournament since 1958. Even sitting outside McDonalds you could tell something special was happening that day, and having met up with more friends we decided to head inside before queues started to form, especially with extra security checks in place as a Palestine protest was planned and any of the protesters inside the ground would have broken UEFA rules about separating politics from sport.

With Wales ranked 117^th in the world just four years ago, the news that a win in this game would have put them up to at least fourth had also really boosted the mood of the fans. The huddle at the end of the game in Cyprus had also epitomised the slogan of “Together Stronger” that the Welsh FA had coined for this campaign, and the stadium was decked in banners and posters to push this home. With Wales naming an unchanged line-up from the massive win on Thursday, confidence was at an all-time high and with the ground packed as the teams came out, the place was alive. The national anthem was belted out with gusto, and a few rounds of Zombie Nation later everyone was hyped up for the start of the match.

The passion seemed to spread to the players as well, with Wales absolutely pummelling Israel for the opening twenty minutes. Bale was cutting apart the defence at will, and some fantastic crosses into the box from Neil Taylor and Jazz Richards created a number of chances, but the visitors defended resolutely and were able to keep the Welsh out. Tal Ben-Haim added valuable experience for Israel, being a key rock at the back, although he was a key proponent in their time-wasting from early on, alongside their goalkeeper who managed to make every goal kick take about a minute.

However, after the opening spell, Israel grew into the game and made it a lot tougher for Wales. The game developed a little more into a midfield game, with the home side struggling to break through as much as they did in the early exchanges. Once again Aaron Ramsey didn’t have that good a game, as whenever he got to the halfway line he stopped and slowed the game down rather than push forward with attacks. However, this couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Welsh faithful, and sitting in a corner of the Canton End I was in a prime position for the chants, including more counts of Zombie Nation, the song that has come to represent this campaign more than any other.

The second half continued as the first ended, with Wales trying to push forward but Israel putting more men behind the ball and working hard to keep them out. There were more chances, but a lot of the play was restricted to crosses into the box which didn’t seem to have any impact, and corners, which are essentially just variations of crosses anyway. A particular highlight of the second spell was a ten minute song for Hal Robson-Kanu to the tune of Salt-n-Pepa’s “Shake It”, with the Reading front man looking ever a threat (if only he could do the same at club level).

With Sam Vokes and Simon Church coming on at the end of the game shifting the formation to 2 traditional strikers up front alongside Gareth Bale, it was clear that Chris Coleman was trying for the win that would have instantly qualified the side, but ultimately it wasn’t to be, despite a clear handball from Israel and the subsequent penalty appeal being ignored by the linesman (I’m not really sure what the 5^th official is meant to do, as he had a clear view of it and still didn’t give anything). However, there was still time for some late action, with the Israel goalkeeper rushing out and allowing Simon Church a free header. With the ball over the line and the net rippling, over 30,000 Welsh took to their feet to celebrate, with me smashing my knee against the seat in front in my euphoria before I realised how stupid I looked when I noticed the linesman’s flag up.

Within seconds of that incident, the referee blew for full time and with Wales sitting on 18 points they were made to wait until they qualified for France. I know from experience it’s a nightmare to get out of the car park after a match, so we headed round to the main entrance to see some of the team getting back on to the bus whilst the traffic cleared. We had a chat with Jazz Richards and our favourite Reading player Chris Gunter, and I was able to get a selfie with Ashley Williams, who for me has been Wales’ stand-out player of the qualification campaign so far (although Gareth Bale is the best-known player, Williams has marshalled a defence that has yet to concede from open play after eight games). After the bus left, we returned to the car, and after being dropped off at Bristol Parkway I headed back to my flat, arriving not long after 10 in the evening. It had been a very long day, but I had seen two enjoyable games and knew that just one point from the final two games (or Belgium beating Israel next month) would see Wales off to France.

We’re all hoping for history to be made, but for now it’s back to the domestic game, with Reading set to face Ipswich on Friday. As it stands, it could be an extremely good season at both club and country level!

Cyprus 0-1 Wales: Together Stronger

With domestic football finished for a couple of weeks after a hectic start to the season, everybody’s focus was turned to the international scene. With only 2 double-header sets of fixtures left before qualifying for the European Championships had finished, all the games were starting to mean something, and Wales had two massive games coming up. If they won both of them, then regardless of other results they would have qualified for the tournament, their first one since 1958, so it was clear to see that this was an incredible opportunity. Israel away had the potential to live long in the memory of fans if they did win there, but first up was a very long trip to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Slightly worryingly, Cyprus were the side that scored one of only two goals that Wales had conceded so far in the campaign (the other was an extremely questionable penalty away at Andorra), but with three consecutive clean sheets following that game (only Romania have conceded fewer goals in the whole campaign so far) and a fantastic win over Belgium last time out, confidence was once again building. Over 3,000 Wales fans had decided to travel out to this game, with many combining it with a holiday (especially with kids on their last week of holidays before going back to school), and so it promised to be a fantastic atmosphere.

I had planned to fly out to Paphos on the Tuesday, spending a couple of days in the coastal town before getting organised coaches to the match and flying back on the Friday. Now, I don’t have the best of luck with EasyJet at all. Last year, I flew out to the Andorra away game via Barcelona, and had booked to fly out to Spain the day before the game before travelling to Andorra itself on match day. Upon arrival at Luton airport, there were massive crowds of people outside a cordon away from the terminal, as a security incident caused absolute mayhem. Once the airport was re-opened (an hour after my flight was due to leave), we all headed to the terminal, where it was revealed that all short-haul flights had been cancelled, leaving me a bit stranded. A quick bit of re-booking on my phone meant, however, that I was able to fly out the following day and made the match, but it was still a bit of a pain!

Luckily, there was no cancellation this time, and the inbound flight that would make up our departure to Paphos was on time, but with passengers taking a very long time to disembark and boarding being delayed and lengthened, we were still sitting at the gate after departure time. After push-back, the pilot came over the tannoy and told us we had missed our ATC slot, and after a 75 minute delay we finally took off. Overall, we spent over five hours on the plane and arrived in Cyprus at half 10, but my taxi was still waiting for me and before long I was checked into my hotel and off to sleep.

It was only when I woke up on Wednesday that I saw the great view from my hotel room, and the same day when I discovered how hot it could get on the island. A short walk to the main strip on Tomb of the Kings Avenue for breakfast preceded a bus journey to the water park, which seemed the best bet for coping with the heat. It was a good day out, and there was a lot to do there, although the poolside café was a little expensive. The lack of sleep the previous night was starting to catch up with me, however, and so after dinner at a nearby café I headed back to the hotel for some sleep. The following day saw a visit to the Tomb of the Kings, which was spectacular but very difficult to walk around with the hot sun beating down.

Later that afternoon, I had to get to the meeting pub in Chloraka to collect my coach ticket and travel to the game. With the buses due to depart at 6PM, I set off at around half 3 and within an hour the local bus dropped me just outside. There were already hundreds of Welsh fans there having some pre-match drinks and displaying flags, and I really don’t envy the job of Leigh James who had to organise 40 coaches across the entire island for the match. In Paphos alone there were 7 coaches, and after stocking up for supplies at the convenience store next door and a little bit of Zombie Nation from the DJ, we piled on and headed for Nicosia. We had a police escort, meaning we sailed through the town and straight on to the motorway, and within two hours we had arrived at the stadium. It was a bit manic after that though, with a massive traffic jam getting in to the car park and the original section reserved for Wales coaches already full after the ones from other resorts had arrived first, meaning it took nearly another half hour to park in the adjacent piece of land.

Once off the coach, it really did feel like something special. The Cypriot FA had arranged for there to be something of a fanzone in the car park, and with thousands of Welsh fans there and heading up to the stadium it really seemed like a big event. After a few checkpoints we were through the turnstiles into the packed concourse, and I headed straight into the stand which was already packed with supporters. It kept filling up until kick-off, and with around 3,200 Welsh fans there it really was incredible. A rousing rendition of the national anthem and some more chants set up a good atmosphere, and the match then started.

To be fair, it was one of Wales’ worst displays in a while. Whilst the referee didn’t help (after disallowing a perfectly good Bale goal early on and letting Cyprus away with a number of fouls, but at other times stopping play for the slightest infraction) and the pitch was cutting up, the team struggled to push forward, with Aaron Ramsey in particular misplacing a number of passes that could have set up good moves. Cyprus also did a job on Gareth Bale, doubling up on him so that whenever he managed to skip away from one man there was always somebody else there to dispossess him and break down a number of moves. On the plus side, the defence was once again strong, with Ashley Williams having another strong display and Jazz Richards once again looking like one of the best players on the pitch on the right flank.

In the second half, Wales seemed to tire a little as well, and I was expecting the game to end at 0-0, which wouldn’t have allowed qualification on Sunday but would have still been an acceptable result. However, as ever Gareth Bale managed to pop up and with 8 minutes to go headed home from a brilliant Jazz Richards cross to send the thousands of travelling fans wild and give Wales the three points. I’m surprised I didn’t end up going over into the row in front, and I know it will be a struggle to get my voice back for the Israel home game after celebrating that goal!

After a few late pushes by Cyprus, and a worrying spill from Wayne Hennessey, the match ended with Wales the victors. A team huddle in front of the fans summed up the “Together Stronger” motto for this qualifying campaign, and after a few more celebrations we were back on the coach. We departed just after midnight, and arrived back at the meeting pub at 2 in the morning, eventually getting in to my hotel about 20 minutes later. It’s fair to say I didn’t get much sleep after that!

The next morning (or should it be the same morning?) I got a taxi back to the airport, and after another 40 minute delay we were back in the air. 4 and a half hours later I was back in Britain, and a short train journey home meant I was finally back and able to prepare for Sunday. If they beat Israel now, not only will they qualify for the final tournament for the first time since 1958, but they will also rise to at least 4^th in the world rankings. It’s a massive opportunity, and one that everyone will be up for.