2026-03-27 10:34:20
Craig Bellamy admits his Wales side “allowed the chaos to creep in” and it cost them.
The Welshman’s side saw their Word Cup dreams get shattered as they lost on penalties in the playoff semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite leading 1-0 during the second half.
Reflecting on what went wrong, Bellamy said after the match: “It got chaotic and that was the bit we didn’t want with this team.
“We allowed the chaos to creep in for 20 minutes and tried to see the game out. We’re not built that way, we don’t play that way.
“We have to keep the ball. I just couldn’t quite get that message on. I do understand – it’s a play-off, they had four centre-forwards on the pitch at one stage.”
Bellamy was bullish about criticism over his substitutions, which included taking off David Brooks and goalscorer Daniel James, while replacements Mark Harris and Liam Cullen didn’t leave their mark on the game.
The manager argued: “I don’t think that’s fair. No, we make changes all the time and we have to.
“We have a lot of players who don’t play 90 minutes at their clubs, so to ask them to come here and play 90 minutes is a lot more difficult. We need a squad.”
Although he’s “definitely disappointed”, Bellamy insisted he’s still “very proud” of his players.
He added: “I got what I wanted from my team but, with 20 minutes left, we stopped playing and we just can’t do that, even though it was understandable.
“It was a big lesson for us. We needed to see the game out with the ball.”
And he is adamant Wales will have a “bright future”, even if in the tough aftermath of Thursday’s (26.03.26) defeat.
He said: “It’s hard to think about now, even though I’m trying. I’ll think about that tomorrow morning because that hurt is sinking in now.
“It will be difficult to sleep off the back of this one but it makes me even more determined.”
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