US Edition
Fate deals Daniel James a cruel hand but now Rob Page faces tough questions over Wales’ future
Never before have Wales experienced the excruciating realities of a penalty shootout. Never before has their fate been decided by one kick of the ball, 12 yards from goal, with an entire nation watching. It can be a beautiful way to win a game but, as Wales learned here, it can also be the most brutal way to lose it.
In the end, it was Daniel James who felt the pain of defeat, the pain that comes with missing the decisive effort. Poland scored five out of five, Wales scored four and then James failed on their fifth. Wojciech Szczesny dived right, saved low, and guaranteed Poland a place in this summer’s European Championship.
For a little while, James stood alone as white-shirted Poland players streamed around him in celebration. Soon his team-mates arrived, as crestfallen and broken as him, as the realisation set in that the dream of a third successive European Championship had died in front of their eyes.
“It is a cruel game,” said Rob Page, the Wales manager. “One kick away from qualifying. It hurts.”
In the coming weeks, there will be uncomfortable questions for Page and the entire Wales setup to answer. Can they truly thrive in the post-Gareth Bale era? Can this new crop of players ever match the standards set by the previous generation? The immediate aftermath of such a gruelling loss, though, was not the time for a post-mortem.
After the shootout there was mainly sorrow and disappointment, but mixed within the anguish was considerable pride in the effort that had taken Wales to that point. The home crowd sang for their players, even after the game had been lost. The national anthem at the end was a statement of support, as well as a show of respect to a group of men who had battled so breathlessly for more than two hours.
“Look how far we have come,” said Page. “There is something good happening with this group. This team is going somewhere. They are hungry for it. There is a lot more to come.”
In truth, Wales had not done enough during normal time or extra time to win the game. They had chances, but only half-chances, and that was also true of Poland. Attacking, flowing football was not the winner on a night defined by tension and angst rather than any genuine quality in the final third.
Within around 10 minutes of kick-off it had become clear that extra time was looming. And within around 10 seconds of extra time it had become clear that penalties would be required. It was that kind of night, and the pressures of the shootout must have weighed on the players long before the final whistle sounded.
Perhaps that pressure proved too much for James, taking the fifth penalty for Wales in front of the ‘Red Wall’ of home supporters. Before him, there had been successful efforts by Ben Davies, Kieffer Moore, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams.
“It is a difficult one to take,” said Davies. “We put everything into the game but in the end it wasn’t to be. It was a good performance but in the end the result is the most important thing and that went against us tonight. There was not much between us. It is an emotional one right now.”
James, the Leeds United winger, did not deserve to be the pivotal figure on the night. Throughout extra time he had scrapped and defended in an unfamiliar role, putting his body on the line as a full-back after Connor Roberts had limped off. But shootouts are football’s most merciless exercise, and this moment will now weigh on James for weeks to come.
“We rallied around Daniel James, he had the bravery to take that penalty,” said Page. “I am so proud of that.”
Over the course of the night, this was an occasion that showcased the best and worst of the current Wales team. Their defensive organisation and spirit was enormously impressive, as Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon and Davies totally eradicated the threat of the great Robert Lewandowski. Ethan Ampadu and Jordan James never stopped running and fighting in midfield.
At the other end of the field, however, a lack of attacking precision and class was once again a problem. A long-term issue for Wales has been an inability to play through teams, with Page instead building a side that either plays in front of the opposition or attempts to run in behind them. Almost all of their chances came from set pieces or crosses, with Moore going closest to finding a winning goal.
As the match progressed, Poland took control despite the formidable atmosphere that had been created here. The Wales home support never holds back during the national anthem but, even by their usual high standards, it had been a pre-match rendition that rattled the bones and stirred the soul.
These are the occasions that have generally brought the best out of Wales in recent years, although the excitement soon turned to anxiety in the stands. Before long, that apprehension had become the central feature of the entire occasion. Everywhere you looked, in the stands and on the pitch, nervousness ruled.
Never more so than during the shootout, at the moment of truth. Poland, led by Lewandowski, were deadly with their efforts. Wales, simply, were not. That is football. That is the brutality of penalties.
Wales lose in penalty shoot-out: As it happened...
Euro 2024 predictor
Now the final three spots at Euro 2024 have been decided – Poland, Ukraine and Georgia – you can predict how the tournament will pan out with this nifty little Euro 2024 predictor toy.
State of shock
From Graham Thomas at the Cardiff City Stadium
Dan James had scored in his last two games - for Leeds and then Wales - but couldn’t find the goal that really mattered.
Most Wales fans are still in their seats - still in a state of shock at that brutal finish. A fourth major tournament finals in the last five was one kick beyond them.
Szczesny the hero
It was a decent save by Szczesny but really it was at that classic ‘perfect height’ for the keeper. It wasn’t a terrible spot-kick, but it was not really decisive enough, lacked some venom, not far enough in the corner.
Poland are ecstatic, for Wales it is pure heartbreak. It was their first ever penalty shoot-out.
120 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Attention is starting to turn to the keepers and who will step up to take the penalties in a shoot-out.
Wales have Leicester stopper Danny Ward between the sticks, Poland are relying on former Arsenal man Wojciech Szczęsny, now of Juventus.
But can someone avoid all that by becoming a last-gasp hero...
108 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
The camera closes in on three Welsh fans with trumpets. They look too nervous toot, but manage to gather themselves and plough on.
David Brooks is causing Poland some concern and he wriggles into space to shoot on the edge of the box but Poland manage to smother him at the last.
103 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Moore is gifted possession halfway between the halfway line and box, he has support but decides to go it alone, but he looks tired and dribbling is not really his forte, and the chance if snuffed out.
From Graham Thomas at the Cardiff City Stadium
No wonder Kieffer Moore looks agonised. He knows that was a huge chance, but he just took one touch too many.
Ramsey warming up
From Graham Thomas at the Cardiff City Stadium
Rob Page said yesterday that Wales had been bushing up on their penalty-taking. That’s reassuring, since they have never been involved in one at senior level.
Aaron Ramsey, Wales’s regular captain who has been out for most of the season with injuries, now warming up.
69 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Keiffer Moore gets another headed chance in the box, but to be fair the cross from the right is looping high so he has to generate his own power and he puts it into the ground too close to him so it bounces up and is easy for Szczesny.
Dan James comes on for Brennan Johnson... can the Leeds man unlock this?
58 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Lewandowski gets a sniff. A man of his calibre should have done better.
He is alarmingly unmarked in the box as a corner comes in but Davies, the Wales captain, does just enough to put off his Polish counterpart, whose header flies high and wide.
Probably Poland’s best chance, that was.
38 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Wilson slides in a clever low pass from a free-kick that looks like it’s opened up the Polish defence for a moment – appears to be a training ground move and the visitors are caught flat – but either it was slightly over-hit or Davies was a bit slow off the mark and the keeper gather.
28 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
Wales on the counter again with Wilson and Ampadu playing some tidy stuff, but the Poles regroup and back the hosts up. Nice and patient from Wales though, who get Wilson in on the right but no one is there to meet his cut-back.
Then Moore almost gets on end of a lobbed cross to the back post. He looks like he’s hurt himself stretching but is back up quite quickly.
21 min: Wales 0 Poland 0
A good old-fashioned long ball into the channel, chased by Johnson, earns Wales another corner.
Williams swings it in, Moore tussles away and wins a good bit of space, but perhaps the effort of that was off-putting, because he skews his heady horribly off target.
That was a half-decent chance.
Name that song
From Graham Thomas at the Cardiff City Stadium
The Red Wall starting crank up the atmosphere with a rousing rendition of the Dafydd Iwan song, Yma o Hyd (We’re Still Here).
Red flares lighting up the Cardiff skyline during the Polish anthem, followed by a cacophonous noise from the Wales supporters for their own anthem.
Scenes from the stadium
Right, the coverage has begun on Viaplay (no long build-up with this lot!). If you haven’t got a subscription with them, stick with us here. Or stick with us anyway, eh.
They are having a good old sing song in the Cardiff City Stadium at the moment and sporting plenty of those excellent red, yellow and green bucket hats. Atmosphere is building to a crescendo and the players are in the tunnel...
Ignore the stats, lads!
The stats are not kind to Wales. But then stats are just numbers, just history...
- In 10 previous meetings with Poland, Wales have lost seven, drawn two and won one
- Wales’s only victory came in their first meeting – in March 1973
- Wales have lost each of their past six games against Poland
No Wales joy for Lewandowski... so far
Poland had a poor group-stage qualifying campaign, by their standards. A humiliating defeat in Moldova and subsequent loss to Albania saw manager Fernando Santos get the heave-ho. But after scraping into third place they were decisive in their play-off semi-final against Estonia, winning 5-1.
As well as the obvious star quality of their captain, Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, they have Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior and Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski in their ranks.
Lewandowski’s stats are impressive: he has been directly involved in 24 goals in his past 27 appearances for Poland (16 goals, eight assists).
However, he has not scored in three games against Wales...
Shoot-out debut for Wales?
Wales have never had a penalty shoot-out before, but that could change tonight if the scores are level after 90 minutes + 30 minutes of extra time. Captain Ben Davies is confident they will not wilt under the pressure if it happens.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t get there,” Davies said. “We’ve been practising all week. I don’t know what the line-up is, but we seem to have 11 pretty good ones at the moment.”
Predict Euro 2024
OK, Wales still have to get there, but if you fancy trying to plot their likely progress – or anyone else’s – through the European Championship finals, then we have this nifty little Euro 2024 predictor toy for you to play with...
Moore vs the ‘big boys’
Wales legend Rob Earnshaw, speaking on Sky Sports, says he is “extremely surprised” that Kieffer Moore has replaced David Brooks up front for Wales.
“Brooks scored and played very well the other night [against Finland]. But on the other side, Rob Page is probably thinking Keiffer is deadly in attack and also it will give him a bit of height defensively. Poland are big boys and dangerous from set-pieces.
“Also he [Page] has probably analysed that there is a bit of a weakness in them [Poland] from set-pieces.”
How they got here
Wales made light work of Finland in their semi-final match last Thursday, seeing off the Nordic challengers 4-1. If you fancy a recap of that memorable night, here is Sam Dean’s report.
Team news
Robert Page makes one change from the Wales team who thrashed Finland 4-1 in the semi-final, with target man striker Kieffer Moore coming in for David Brooks.
Ben Davies is captain again as Aaron Ramsey is only fit enough to be on the bench.
Wales: Ward; Mepham, Rodon, B Davies; Roberts, Ampadu, J James, Williams; Wilson, Johnson, Moore.
Subs: Hennessey, King, Fox, Dasilva, Sheehan, Savage, Ramsey, D. James, Matondo, Brooks, Broadhead, Cullen.
Poland, meanwhile, are unchanged from their 5-1 win over Estonia in the other semi.
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash is out after being injured against Estonia .
Poland: Szczesny; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Slisz, Piotrowski, Zalewski; Swiderski, Lewandowski.
Subs: Bulka, Skorupski, Puchacz, Walukiewicz, Salamon, Bochniewicz, Piatek, Moder, Romanczuk, Szymanski, Grosicki, Buksa.
Youth uprising
As mentioned below, Wales have reached tonight’s play-off while transitioning from the Bale-Ramsey-Allen golden era with a young side who now have experience beyond their years. The Welsh have plunged their next generation into international football as early as possible and are seeing benefits. Rather than waiting for top players to emerge from a population of just three million, they have been actively sought out and their development has been accelerated – as John Toshack did with Bale, Ramsay and Allen.
Telegraph Sport’s Sam Dean wrote an excellent piece on this policy, which you can read here.
The Cardiff factor
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of what promises to be another night of vein-bulging drama and overflowing passion at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Rob Page’s team are on the brink of qualifying for a third consecutive European Championship (and a fourth major tournament out of five, having also graced the 2022 World Cup in Qatar) which is all a long way from doldrums of 58 years of absence from the big events which followed the 1958 Fifa shindig.
Standing in their way tonight is the considerable challenge of Poland, led by veteran goal machine Robert Lewandowski, who is still banging them in for Barcelona striker at the ripe old age of 35.
Both sides arrive in the Welsh capital after putting unconvincing group campaigns behind them with decisive wins in their respective semi-finals last week – Wales beat Finland 4-1 in Cardiff while Poland saw off Estonia 5-1 in Warsaw.
Tonight’s match is a winner-takes-all clash, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out on the cards if the scores are level after 90 minutes and then an additional half hour.
Since that heroic run to the semi-finals at Euro 2016, qualification for the European Championship have become the norm for Wales. They have undoubtedly been helped the tournament’s expansion to 24 teams and Nations League-assisted play-offs, but it is still a superb feat to be in this position again, considering they can no longer count on the inspiration of Gareth Bale and Joe Allen, while Aaron Ramsey’s influence has waned.
Only one place separates these two sides in the Fifa rankings – Wales are 29th and Poland are 30th – and while Poland have a greater international pedigree to call upon, Wales can count on inspirational home support. They have lost only one of their last 15 Euro qualifiers at their beloved home of Cardiff City Stadium and Page clearly believes it can be a decisive factor.
“It’s an incredible record and our supporters are massive,” said Page. “They took the roof off with the anthem the other day. Bring it on again . Let’s use that to our benefit to get across the line.”