Wales boss Craig Bellamy says one of the world’s worst football teams Liechtenstein have given him sleepless nights ahead of their World Cup qualifier.
Liechtenstein are among the whipping boys of world football and ranked 205th out of FIFA’s 210 nations.
They have not won a competitive game since September 2020, and lost their opening two World Cup qualifiers in March to North Macedonia and Kazakhstan 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.
“We win the game, that’s it, That’s the honest truth,” Bellamy said at his pre-match press conference.
“I don’t care about scorelines. We have to win, that’s all we’re working for this week.
“We’ve prepared for Liechtenstein as we did for Turkey and everyone else. It doesn’t matter who we play against.
“I’ve watched the same amount of games on Liechtenstein as I have for every other team. My psyche can’t work any different.
“I honestly believe if you disrespect the game it will catch you out. Do I understand people looking past it? Of course I do.
“But I was up late last night. I didn’t sleep well. Does that tell you something? I treat every team the same.
“The same messages have been fed to the players. It doesn’t matter.”
Wales opened their World Cup campaign in March with a 3-1 home victory over Kazakhstan and a last-gasp 1-1 draw in North Macedonia.
The Dragons know a far tougher test against group favourites Belgium lies ahead in Brussels on Monday.
Bellamy has utilised much of his squad in previous double-headers since being appointed last summer.
He is likely to do so again with such a quick turnaround before the Belgium game, although Leeds winger Daniel James is likely to miss out against Liechtenstein.
“Unfortunately Dan picked up an illness so we’ve had to separate him from the group,” said Bellamy.
“We can’t afford to have any other players infected.
“We’re monitoring him and monitoring the situation, but we’ve got cover. It’s OK.”
Captain Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson have joined up for international duty after helping Tottenham to Europa League glory against Manchester United.
Johnson scored the winner in the Bilbao final to end Tottenham’s 17-year wait for a trophy.
Davies said: “We had a couple of days celebrating, but you keep going on that merry-go-round and the next game seems to come up.
“I think Brennan has shown this year that he’s a top, top player and proven a lot of people wrong.
“We’ve got full confidence in him in this Wales squad, that he can replicate his form at the club, here.
“We love having him around the place and I feel we’ve got the best Brennan at the moment.”
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