The international week saw Wales play a couple of games and - not surprisingly - lose them both. One could be forgiven for thinking that it would be all doom and gloom in John Toshack?s Wales camp, but that is certainly not the case. Two defeats they may have been but there is no shame in losing a close game to the Czech Republic and a friendly against Carlos Dunga?s seemingly resurgent Brazil, and while the players lamented their defeat in their first qualifying game they will know there are plenty of positives to take from it.

The game against the Czechs was an important one. Wales are in a difficult qualifying group for the 2008 European Championships along with Karel Bruckner?s side, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia (who reached the playoffs in the World Cup qualifying) as well as minnows San Marino and Cyprus. Toshack?s young side face a tough task to finish above fifth ? their position in their World Cup qualifying group ? let alone qualify.

The manager spoke before the game about the need to win at least one of the away games against what he described as the ?strong footballing nations? in the group, but you suspect he would have been happy to come away from Teplice with a point. This theory was borne out by his decision to go with a 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2 if you prefer) formation that would rely on the pace of Bellamy and Giggs up front to cause problems on the break.

The tactic almost worked too, with Wales minutes away from snatching a point. They could have even won were it not for a combination of Petr Cech?s agility and Craig Bellamy?s wayward finishing. As it happened, though, it was Wales who were caught out on the counter attack after Bellamy had hit the post, although replays showed that Czech substitute David Lafata was in an offside position when he put the ball in the net. It took a bold substitution from the manager to restore parity ? off went the two fullbacks, Delaney and Ricketts, and on came two forwards, Rob Earnshaw and Dave Cotterill. It was a combination between these two in the box that resulted in Martin Jiranek prodding the ball into his own net with just five minutes to go, and it began to look as if Wales would be coming away with a hard-earned point.

Of course, that was not to be. Ryan Giggs was left lamenting ?another hard-luck story? after Lafata again pounced again in the 89th minute, his poorly struck scuffed shot somehow beating Paul Jones in the Wales goal to seal a 2-1 win for the Czech Republic.

Next on the agenda for a Wales was a glamorous friendly against Carlos Dunga?s new-look Brazil side at White Hart Lane. It was Brazil?s third friendly match in their mini-tour of Europe, following a bad-tempered draw against Norway and an impressive 3-0 win over old rivals Argentina at the Emirates Stadium. It was a chance for some of Wales? promising youngsters like Lewin Nyatanga, Gareth Bale, Richard Duffy and Joe Ledley to test themselves against a top-class side, and despite the eventual 2-0 defeat, there was plenty to take away from the performance.

But although the youngsters got much of the attention, it was one of the veterans, Ryan Giggs, who was the star performer until he was withdrawn at half time. He caused plenty of problems for the men in yellow, but yet again Wales were left lamenting chances they missed. Brazil showed how to finish with two exellent goals which illiustrated the difference in class between the two teams. On the one hand, we have Brazil, with a bevy of superb strikers and goal threats from all over the pitch, and on the other we have Wales, seemingly struggling for goals now John Hartson is unavailable (except in emergencies).

This is what seems to be the problem. Watching Vagner Love - a guy who is usually behind the likes of Ronaldo, Adriano, Robinho and Fred in the Brazil pecking order - put the finishing touch to a gorgeous flowing move seemed to underline the strength in depth in the Brazil camp that Wales obviously just don?t have. With Hartson gone, Bellamy appears to be relied on for goals, and while usually a decent goal scorer, he missed several good chances over both games. If he doesn?t score, you have to wonder, who will?

Earnshaw is a willing runner with many good qualities to his game, but top class he is not. Likewise Giggs is an excellent player but he is not an out-and-out goal scorer and while Dave Cotterill is showing promise, any Bristol City fan will tell you about his frustrating inconsistency. The strikers further down the pecking order don?t exactly fill me with much hope either. Craig Davies (currently on loan at Wolves from Hellas Verona in Italy) is a big target man with the potential to be Hartson?s successor, but he will have to find some form at club level before he can be given a run in the national side, and he has hardly proven prolific for his various clubs thus far.

Another problem position for Toshack is the goalkeeper. Paul Jones, now approaching 40, remains his first choice even though he is also Wales? goalkeeping coach. He is still a decent shot-stopper at times but was at fault for the Czech?s second goal and it could well be time to give a younger man a chance. Unfortunately for the manager, the options in that area are limited as well. Blackburn?s Jason Brown is the current second choice, but he also holds that position for his club, which will make it hard for him to impress unless he breaks into the Blackburn side. The current Under-21 keeper, Ipswich?s Lewis Price, seems a more viable alternative to Jones, likewise a good shot-stopper who seems to be growing in confidence at Ipswich. The onus is really on Brown and Price to produce for their clubs and make it impossible for Toshack to overlook them, but unless that happens it appears the experienced Jones will continue as number one for at least another year.

Elsewhere though, the future is looking bright for Wales. The young Derby defender Lewin Nyatanga has benefited greatly from first team football recently, and gave an assured performance at the back against the Czechs that belied his young age. Likewise Gareth Bale, the Southampton fullback and reigning Championship player of the month, looks to have a great future ahead of him. A good tackler who enjoys getting forward, he can also strike a decent free kick, shown by his two goals for his club so far this season. It was no surprise to see him linked with a move to Arsenal before the transfer window shut. Arsene Wenger knows a good young player when he sees one and it will be interesting to see if Bale is at Saint Mary?s next year if he keeps up his good form.

So the end of the international week leaves Wales already six points adrift of group leaders Germany, albeit with a game in hand. They must now put the disappointing result in Teplice behind them and rouse themselves for a potentially tricky fixture against Slovakia next month. It is a game they can ill afford to lose, but after the last two performances, it is one they can also be quietly confident of winning.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 7:39 am and is filed under International Football - Wales. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.