Match report
China started badly – Bale scored his first after two minutes – and they got worse. But a 6-0 win is a 6-0 win, and Giggs can be very happy with how his team went about their business. The wide margin of victory also allowed him to throw in a few fringe players. All in all, an excellent day at the office.
The final word goes to Gareth Bale, whose hat-trick takes him above Ian Rush in the all-time rankings. He’s now Wales’s top goalscorer, and will fancy more in the final, against Uruguay or Czech Republic, on Monday. Cheers for reading along with me. Bye!
Full time: China 0-6 Wales
As first days go, Ryan Giggs has had a good one here. A hat-trick for Gareth Bale, two goals for Sam Vokes and a first international goal for Harry Wilson.
91 mins: Woodburn lifts a cross towards the near post, and Bradshaw gets onto it, but heads wide under pressure.
90 mins: Two added minutes.
89 mins: Yan moves off his line smartly to clear a long ball, with Bradshaw and Watkins sniffing around.
Putting the boot into China, here:
@niallmcveigh 0-6 down at home to a country that has a thousandth of your population. Will they still claim they invented the game after this?
— abayo (@kawatabake) March 22, 2018
88 mins: Yu Hanchao, who has put in plenty of hard yards in the second half, tries to dribble into the area but is quickly closed down.
87 mins: “I’m sure Chris Coleman is watching with a big smile,” says the BBC commentator. I’m not so sure.
85 mins: Nearly a debut goal for Mepham as he meets Ben Woodburn’s corner, but heads a yard over the bar!
84 mins: Safe to say the fizz has gone out of this one.
82 mins: Watkins slips a diagonal pass into the feet of Evans, who is tackled in the box by substitute Liu. He gets the ball, and plenty of the man, but the referee waves play on.
Simon Thomas has the calculator out: “If Wales had as many people as China, it would be 2800-0. Or something.”
80 mins: Watkins accelerates away from his marker and lifts a cross into the box that China clear. On the bench, Lippi looks fed up.
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78 mins: Fantastic save from Hennessey! Yu Hanchao dribbles infield from the left, and curls a shot towards the far corner from the edge of the box. It looks in all the way, but Hennessey gets a fingertip to it, and turns it onto the post!
76 mins: Wales aren’t going to the World Cup, while a team that China beat in qualifying – South Korea – are. On today’s evidence, that seems unfair.
74 mins: Declan John bursts past his marker down the left and passes to Woodburn, whose cross is deflected behind. China don’t clear the corner effectively and it lands at the feet of Ashley Williams, who stings Yan’s palms from 20 yards out.
72 mins: It’s a debut for Brentford’s Mepham, and a second cap for Bristol Rovers’ Lockyer and Norwich’s Watkins. “Giving youth a chance,” reckons John Hartson. Watkins is 27, but fair enough otherwise.
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70 mins: More changes for Wales – Marley Watkins, Chris Mepham and Tom Lockyer come on for Wilson, Chester and Davies. Hanwen replaces Feng for China.
69 mins: A long ball is chased down gamely by Gao Lin, but Hennessey has time to wait in his area and pick it up.
68 mins: Ben Davies charges upfield and passes to John, whose cross from deep is headed over by Barnsley’s Tom Bradshaw.
65 mins: Marcello Lippi could do with teaching his team the offside rule.
63 mins: Two more subs for Wales at the same time, with Tom Bradshaw and Lee Evans replacing Joe Allen and Sam Vokes, who both impressed.
Gareth Bale is now Wales’s all-time top scorer – and with that, he’s withdrawn with a smile on his face. Ben Woodburn replaces him.
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GOAL! China 0-6 Wales (Bale hat-trick)
Never mind – another long ball, this time from Allen, loops into Bale’s path, and he takes a touch and drills it into the far corner.
61 mins: Vokes volleys a long diagonal pass back across goal, but it whistles past the far post. He’s flagged offside anyway.
60 mins: Li Xuepeng whips in a cross that Ben Davies clears – but in the process, he clashes heads with Wei. Both players need some attention before carrying on.
GOAL! China 0-5 Wales (Vokes 58')
And another! It’s made by Wilson, who collects Gunter’s pass and splits the defence with a pass to Vokes. China appeal for offside but he’s a yard on, and tucks the ball under Yan.
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55 mins: Hanchao’s cross deflects into the path of Zhao Xuri, who attempts a highly ambitious shot from distance that bobbles through to Hennessey.
53 mins: Wales happy to sit back and let their hosts try and break them down early in this second half. Wu Lei plays a one-two but miscues his shot from 18 yards with Allen closing in.
50 mins: One of the subs, Yu Hanchao, motors down the right and puts in a cross that’s cleared behind. From the corner, Wei hooks a half-chance towards goal, but it’s several feet off target.
47 mins: Bale’s first-half double means he is level with Ian Rush in the all-time standings; one more and he’ll become Wales’s top scorer. He has another dig from 30 yards, but Yan saves it.
46 mins: China have made four changes. Li Xuepeng replaces Wang Shenchao in defence, He Chao and Yu Hanchao are on for Gao and Huang in midfield – and Zhao Xuri replaces Yu Dabao up top.
Peep!
Wales haven’t led 4-0 at half-time since a game against San Marino in the Bobby Gould era. No changes from Giggs just yet.
We can surely expect a few changes from Giggsy at half-time – and perhaps a first cap for Brentford’s Chris Mepham. It’s been quite the journey from Sunday league for the defender:
Half time: China 0-4 Wales
Let’s be honest, China aren’t up to much – but that’s still an impressive first half for Ryan Giggs’ Wales. It would be easy to go through the motions, but Wales have been aggressive and rattled in four goals. More soon.
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China’s defence is all over the shop again, allowing Wilson to dart into the penalty area – and he cuts inside He Guan, before curling the ball beyond Yan with his left foot!
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GOAL! China 0-4 Wales (Wilson 45')
What a lovely finish, and first international goal, for Harry Wilson!
44 mins: Bale, looking every inch the guy who turns up at your five-a-side and is clearly several cuts above, spins some 30 yards out and belts a shot on goal which Yan gets behind.
42 mins: China finished a point off the playoff places in World Cup qualifying, so I have to assume they’re usually better than this.
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40 mins: Gunter, who may pick up a few more superfans based on his first half performance, wins a corner which is cleared away.
GOAL! China 0-3 Wales (Vokes 37')
After a fine passive move from the back, Gareth Bale swings a cross to Andy King at the back post, and Vokes gets across He Guan well to toe-poke it into the far corner!
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35 mins: Wu, China’s most dangerous attacker – which isn’t saying much – fires in a low cross which Hennessey collects.
34 mins: Ben Davies gets forward but his chipped cross towards Bale is cut out.
While you’re here, why not sign up for the Fiver’s World Cup-themed Russian cousin, The FiveЯ? The first edition has just landed:
31 mins: Bale sprints to the byline and cuts the ball back towards Vokes, who can’t connect with it.
29 mins: Bale drifts into midfield and is set upon by three opponents, Wei bringing him down with a hack at his shins. He’s down in a bit of discomfort, but shakes it off.
27 mins: China are sitting deeper and deeper, sensing that their opponents are too strong. Allen tries to unpick the defence with a slide-rule ball to Vokes, but the striker is offside.
25 mins: Andy King plays a one-two with Vokes and races into the area, before going over hopefully as a defender wafts a leg in his direction.
23 mins: So far, it’s been worth the long trip for Gareth Bale, who is far too good for the opposing defence. He’s penalised here though, perhaps harshly, for a foul on Zheng.
GOAL! China 0-2 Wales (Bale 21')
A second for Gareth Bale, the home defence passing ponderously and allowing Sam Vokes to intercept. His first-time ball is collected by Bale, who rolls the ball inside Yan’s near post!
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20 mins: Declan John, operating on the left of midfield, wins a corner after his cross is deflected behind. Davies’ corner is flicked on to Williams, who steers his header over the bar! He had to stoop for it, but should have got it on target.
18 mins: Straight after that, Wales have a fine chance to double their lead, Bale going through one-on-one with Yan – but the goalkeeper stands tall and gets a boot in to clear it.
17 mins: Wu Lei finds space down the right, getting away from Ben Davies, but his shot is weak and easily held by Hennessey.
16 mins: Rangers’ Declan John brings the ball down smartly and backheels to Allen, whose cross deflects back to Yan in goal.
15 mins: A spell of tentative China pressure is ended by He Guan’s third badly-timed tackle, this time on Vokes.
14 mins: Wales are set up in a 3-5-2, with Declan John and Joe Allen both getting forward in support of the strikers.
13 mins: Wales free kick as the no-nonsense He Guan barges Bale off the ball. It’s cleared as far as Allen, and then ricochets back to Sam Vokes, who is offside.
11 mins: China continue to press, but can’t put anything together in the final third. Should Wales win, by the way, they’ll play Uruguay or Czech Republic in the final. Last year’s inaugural China Cup was won by – come on, you know this one – Chile.
9 mins: Yan has to clear his lines as Bale chases after a long ball from Chris Gunter, who has his own group of ultras out here:
Meet the @Chrisgunter16 superfans in China... ❤️
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) March 21, 2018
Step aside, Gareth Bale. pic.twitter.com/CNtfBC61vJ
7 mins: Another half-chance for the hosts, with Wu Lei getting away from Ben Davies and connecting with a cross, but only toe-poking it wide.
5 mins: Bale has another run at the China defence, who look a little soft-centered, but are saved this time by an offside flag.
4 mins: A let-off for Ashley Williams, closed down after dallying on the ball in defence – but the ball deflects behind off striker Yu Dabao.
From a Hennessey clearance, Sam Vokes flicks on and Gareth Bale collects ahead of two hesitant defenders. He dribbles into the area and fires the ball inside the near post. What a start!
GOAL! China 0-1 Wales (Bale 2')
Well, that didn’t take long. Gareth Bale fires Wales in front!
1 min: He Guan trips up Vokes in midfield, conceding a free kick. Probably would have been a booking, had it come later than 40 seconds in.
Peep!
Referee Mohd bin Yacoob of Malaysia gets us under way. China are in all red, Wales in their natty new white and green away kit. It’s Team Dragon v The Dragons...
If Wales lose:
If Wales win:
Kick off is about 10 minutes away – Giggs has just been interviewed, saying that Ashley Williams is captain, Bale starts, and there are chances for Declan John and Harry Wilson. And not much more than that. The 60,000 capacity Guangxi Sports Centre is certainly not full, but there’s a decent crowd in.
The teams in full
China PR: Yan, Shenchao Wang, Hao, Huang, Zheng, Guan He, Feng, Lei Wu, Gao, Dabao Yu, Wei.
Subs: Zeng, Liu, Li, Cai, Xiao, Chao He, Fan, Hanchao Yu, Deng, Zhao, Tan, Peng.
Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, Chester, Williams, Davies, John, King, Allen, Wilson, Vokes, Bale.
Subs: Maxwell, Matthews, Bradshaw, Bodin, Evans, Watkins, Mepham, Roberts, Hedges, Woodburn, Lockyer, Crowe.
Referee: Mohd Bin Yaacob (Malaysia)
Team news
The big news is that Gareth Bale starts, amid rumours that Wales could have lost a portion of their appearance fee if the Real Madrid star didn’t play.
🇨🇳 STARTING XI 🏴
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) March 22, 2018
The starting XI has been confirmed... There's just an hour to go until we kick off in the #ChinaCup against the hosts.
What do you think of the team? #CHNWAL #TogetherStronger #一起更强大 pic.twitter.com/EIZZdsCVO5
Preamble
While plenty of teams are using this round of friendly fixtures to prepare for Russia, Wales are starting a whole new era after falling short. Chris Coleman has left for Sunderland (and by the way Chris – what were you thinking?) and Ryan Giggs steps into the fray, getting his first management gig with the highest-ranked team in the world not to qualify for the World Cup.
Today’s first opponents in the China Cup are, well, China. They have improved under Marcello Lippi, but are ranked 65th in the world to Wales’ 20th. On the other hand, Lippi can call upon a population of 1.4bn, compared to Wales’ 3m – and today’s host city, Nanning, has a population of 4m on its own. Then again, China lost in this tournament last year to Iceland, which has 334,000 residents, 7,000 fewer than Cardiff, and is going to the World Cup.
Make of that what you will. The game kicks off at 11.35am GMT, 7.35pm local.
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