The day after Craig Bellamy smiled and apologised to a Turkish translator for rambling his way to the end of an answer, his passion for the Wales job spilled over on to the pitch. In the buildup there was an understandable, first-day-at-school nervous energy to Bellamy, his chosen uniform pristine white trainers and a black bomber jacket, and no wonder his excitement given the buzz his team emitted throughout this entertaining draw. As first impressions go, this was a resounding if imperfect performance against a Turkey team who played more than 35 minutes with 10 men after Baris Yilmaz was sent off.
Wales supporters have probably never enjoyed a 0-0 this much. Officially, this was a Nations League opener against a team four places above them in the rankings but, really, it was Bellamy’s first examination as a manager. There was still a touch of the old Bellamy – the fourth official, Sigurd Kringstad, was man-marked at times – but he was rightly chuffed with this showing given his first training session with his players was only on Monday. “Believe me, this is the worst we’re going to be,” Bellamy said afterwards. “The more we learn, the more time we spend together, learning the finer details, there’s way more to come.”
