Wales Captain Ben Davies greeted the calmness of head coach Craig Bellamy during Saturday's 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan in Cardiff City Stadium.
Dan James opened the score for Wales in the ninth minute, although Askhat Tagybergen equalized with a penalty that almost came in.
Wales, however, responded well in the second half, with Davies, who delivered the assist to James' opener, and Rabbi Matondo also came to the score sheet.
And Davies said that coach Bellamy, who was known for his spicy character during his match days, earned a lot of honor for his approach during the break.
“The players were those who were the most frustrated during the break,” Davies told BBC Sport.
“[Bellamy] Came in Mr. Calm, he came in with a plan, was clear in the messages he gave us and what he expected in the second half, he just asked for more energy and kept doing what we do. “
It was a feeling displayed by James, who said: “He [Bellamy] Told us during the break to keep digging in.
“There were times in the first half where we didn't check the game as much as we wanted, but in the second half we checked it much more.”
FT | 3-1
A winning start of our @Fifaworldcup -qualifier campaign
pic.twitter.com/einczwmhh1
– Wales (@Cymru) March 22, 2025
Wales succeeded only four shots before the break and only collected 0.27 expected goals. After the interval, those figures shot up to eight and 1.91 respectively.
Davies nodded in the 47th minute in the corner of Sorba Thomas, a set piece of tactics that James emphasized as a special focus.
“Second half we came out and scored a great set piece, in international football sets are really important and it is something we have practiced,” said the Leeds United Forward.
Davies quickly praised Kazakhstan for their efforts. The Tottenham defender added: “We have all been in games such games that you go into as favorites, you have many expectations to walk over a team, but you know it is never the case. They are a proud nation that is on the field to win a game, just like us.
“They made it very difficult for us, they were compact. You could see that we forced many balls in the first half when we didn't really have to do that.”
Comments