The scene at the final whistle said everything about a sizeable opportunity missed. An eerie hush fell inside the stadium following an exhausting contest and now Wales require favours to qualify automatically for Euro 2024. Wales’s players were splayed across the pitch, acutely aware they had blown the chance to take a huge stride towards Germany. For Armenia, it was game over.
A floored Chris Mepham lay supine, Joe Rodon crouched. A hunched Jordan James had his hands on knees, Daniel James, his hands on his hips. Armenia were equally deflated at not earning a victory which, in truth, they deserved. By the end, as the game descended into a fraught winner-takes-all contest, Wales were grateful to cling on to a point. “Unfortunately, it is now out of our control,” the Wales manager, Rob Page, said. “With a win we would have been buzzing and looking forward to the game on Tuesday [against Turkey] knowing that a win would see us qualify. It has not materialised as we would have liked.”
