Wales crave momentum but, a few days after surely the sweetest high of Craig Bellamy’s two-year reign, a sapping international window ended on a bum note. At least until Bellamy was informed Portugal’s comeback victory over Norway means Wales will spend the next six weeks in third, and not bottom of Nations League A4 owing to their superior head-to-record. “That’s actually quite nice,” the Wales head coach said, slowly digesting the silver lining about half an hour after the final whistle. “That’s brightened up a real rubbish moment.”
Bellamy suggested last Thursday’s victory over Norway blew the group wide open with a hand grenade but Danny Ward detonated one to give Denmark a second-half penalty and Rasmus Højlund’s flawless spot-kick ultimately proved the difference. The galling thing for Ward was that until his moment of madness, he had kept his country in the game, his best stop a sublime right-hand save to deny Gustav Isaksen. A first clean sheet since beating Liechtenstein last November also went out of the window for Wales. The life of a goalkeeper, eh?
