Full-time: Wales 2-0 Andorra
Wales end their qualifying campaign in the way they started it, beating Andorra. But it’s the stuff they did in between that was most remarkable and explains why this final whistle will be followed by an era-defining party. Next stop: France, where no one will fancy facing this spirited and skilful team.
GOAL! Wales 2-0 Andorra (Bale 86)
And there’s the biggest roar of the night! Davies did a fair Bale impression by bombing down the left and pinging in a wicked low cross. Bale swung at it, didn’t make a great connection, but swept the ball past a rather lame dive by the keeper and into the net from eight yards!
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85 min: Looks like the main men will be kept on util the end: the last home sub sees Jonny Williams replaced by Church.
82 min: That’s booking No8 for Andorra, courtesy of a reckless hack by Ayala. Are they going for the full house? And, given the visitors’ approach, is it wise of Chris Coleman to keep Bale on for so long?
79 min: Lawrence, who looked played with quite some aplomb since coming on, has bang from outside the box. Held by the keeper, who has also impressed tonight.
78 min: Ashley Williams gets his goal .... oh no, he doesn’t! He rose well to meet an in-swinging freekick some eight yards out, but the keeper makes a fine stop! All the Swansea man can do is laugh at his misfortune.
76 min: Rodriguez becomes the seventh Andorran player into the book tonight. Who says they haven’t really made a mark on international football?
74 min: Another Bale freekick. 26 yards out and central. Time to prove that practice pays? Nope, he shanks it. Wasting his life on that training ground, clearly.
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70 min: Andorra sub: Sonejee wanders off and into international retirement, after 105 caps. Ayala comes on.
67 min: Bale exchanges passes with Ramsey and then makes to run between the last two Andorran defenders. No problem, except his last touch is too hefty and allows the keeper to rush out and snaffle the ball.
64 min: Another fine run by Ramsey but his shot is blocked. In truth, he should have passed, with Bale loitering in a far better position. Unusual for an Arsenal player not to pass in that situation.
62 min: Wales are growing even stronger, stretching the visitors even more. More goals look a certainty ...
60 min: Wonderful run by Ramsey, who dodges his way past three Andorran lunge and then fires low from 16 yards ... just past the far post!
57 min: A hullabaloo as Welsh players take exception to a stupidly rough taclke by Vieira on Ramsey, and the fact that Rubio then booted the ball at the grounded Ramsey. Both Andorrans get booked, on top of a jostling from several Welsh players.
55 min: You might be amused to learn that the entire Welsh team celebrated that opening goal by dashing over to the bench and dancing a jig with Joe Ledley., along the lines of this:
53 min: A bale shot skims the bar after he’s released by Williams ... but it wouldn’t have counted, as Bale had trespassed into an offside position. But there can be no dampening the atmosphere of jubilation around the stadium now. Unless maybe Andorra equalise. So yeah, there can be no dampening the atmosphere of jubilation around the stadium now.
GOAL! Wales 1-0 Andorra (Ramsey 50)
At last! Bale, inevitably, was at the origin of it, clipping a ball towards the penalty spot after latching on to a shoddy Andorran clearance. Ashley Williams should really have crowned his own fine campaign by heading into the net but it was a weak effort and the keeper saved. But Ramsey hammers in the rebound from close range!
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50 min: Sonejee booked for shoving over Davies as the defender tried to burst into the box. Freekick inches outside the box but at an acute angle on the left. Ramsey belts in into the wall. Corner to Wales. That’s also yields nothing.
49 min: Williams pings a cross towards the back post following a quick short corner from Wales. Bale leaps but can’t get a decisive touch.
48 min: Bale charges down the left, past the Andorran defence as if they’re not there, but when he looks to cross he finds that no team-mate has been able to keep up with him either, and he blems the ball into the sidenetting.
46 min: Wales sub: Young Tom Lawrence comes on in place of Edwards, who has apparently succumbed to an injury sustained after replacing Robson-Kanu earlier on.
Glad tidings
Word is that Moreira has recovered and did not even have to go to hospital, which perhaps means that it was his neck that was hurt rather than his head.
HT: Wales 0-0 Andorra
Well, good thing Wales don’t need to win. They’ve been totally dominant everywhere except in the Andorran box, where all of the visitors have been massed, defending with guts and effectiveness. Hats off to them. But Wales are going to get the goal they want to top off tonight’s party, aren’t they?
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45+7 min: Jonny Williams loops in a cross from the left. Bale and Vokes both jump for it, with Lima in between. No one can apply a firm connection and it’s easy pickings for Pol.
45+4 min: Another corner for Wales, their severalth of the game so far. More panic in the Andorran box, followed by another scrambled clearance. If you have to admire their contrariness.
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45+2 min: Wales corner. Lima attempts to clear with a wild karate-kick. It goes only as far as Davies at the edge of the area. He takes a touch and then tries to place a curling shot into the top corner. But it flies just wide.
45 min: There will be eight minutes to time added on, following the earlier injury to Moreira.
44 min: Davies hurtles down the left and delivers a cross that is slightly behind Ramsey, but the Arsenal player adjusts well and gets off a fine header from a difficult angle. Pol pushes it over the bar.
42 min: Bale races by an Andorran defender like a Formula 1 car overtaking a milk float. Llovera tries to cut out his cross but misdirects his attempted clearance. Jonny Williams slices the follow-up miles wide.
41 min: Wales haven’t been able to pick a way through the centre of Andorra’s mass defence but they’ve sure put in plenty of crosses. The latest of them, from Bale, is headed over from 12 yards by Vokes.
39 min: Jon Williams hoiks in a cross from the right. Ramsey nods it back across goal, but one of several Andorrans in the six-yard box heads it to safety.
37 min: Vaughan’s jinks and cuts inside before firing over a cross from the right. Vokes strains and stoops to get a strong header on it from 10 yards, but again the keeper, Pol, is well positioned and holds soundly.
35 min: It is to the credit of the Andorran’s work ethic that their formation tonight looks a lot like 47-15-0. Mind you, their dynamic defending is being augmented by frequent fouls. The latest one, on Vaughan, gives Bale another shooting opportunity. His 27-yard freekick swerves and dip like an anarchic bumble-bee but lands comfortably in the keeper’s armsm.
33 min: The referee, Kevin Blom of Holland if you must know, ignores another Welsh penalty claim as Sonejee catches Edwards clumsily just inside the box.
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31 min: Clunk! Vaughan booked for following on into an Andorran’s knee after winning the ball. Unintentional by the Welshman, but sore for the Andorran.
29 min: Entertainment! Straight out of Fosset’s circus! A long diagonal cross from the left is almost directed into his own goal in spectacular fashion by Max Llovera, perpetrator of a barmy 18-yard header that almost looped over his own keeper. But Pol saves the day.
26 min: Bales cross from the right. Vokes goes down in the box in what could have been construed as a rather mean-spirited attempt to frame the nearby defender. The ref decides it was an innocent fall. Kick-out to Andorra.
24 min: This party needs an ice-breaker, to be frank. It’s a rather unsinspiring game of charades so far. Time to break out the footballing equivalent of a round of shots, which, I suppose, would be a round of shots. “Why do you call him David Edwards,” quizzes Sam Bruden for some reason. Erm, why don’t you take that up with his parents?
21 min: Another player leaves injured, though thankfully Robson-Kanu does not look as badly hurt as Moreira did. The winger went over on his ankle several minutes ago and tried to continue but eventually decided that was impossible or unwise. He was, at least, able to hobble off and acknowledge the applause of the crowd as he goes. David Edwards comes on in his place.
20 min: A searching Ramsey ball from deep towards Bale, who just can’t collect. If he had, it would have been a mano a mano duel between him and the keeper , a chance, then, for Ferran Pol to salvage a moment to tell his grandchildren about.
18 min: Four Welshman waiting in the box as the home team build around it. Ramsey feeds Gunter, who steps past one opponent and then lets fly from 25 yards. Well, why not? No trouble for the keeper though.
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15 min: Wales denied a blatant penalty after Jon Williams is tripped in the box. Moments later they do get a freekick when Bale is callously taken out by Lima, who gets the yellow he deserves. Bale tries to add to the punishment but his freekick from 20 yards wobbles a couple of yards wide.
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14 min: Vokes to Bale, who bounds into the box and unleashes a ferocious shot from a tight angle! The stunned keeper manages to parry it ... and Ramsey just fails to connect with the rebound from close range!
12 min: Play resumes. The pattern is as it was before the unhappy interlude: Wales hogging the ball, Andorra defending en masse.
11 min: Moreira is taken off the pitch on a stretcher. It’s unclear from the footage exactly how seriously he is injured but it is obviously not good. Apparently an ambulance is outside to take him straight to hospital. Let’s hope he recovers quickly and fully.
3 min: Oh. That’s not what the party needed. We said we didn’t want any injuries to Welsh stars, but we didn’t want any Andorrans getting hurt either. Unfortunately, Victor Moreira has taken a fearful clatter in a collision with James Chester. His head seemed to get the worst of it. He’s receiving prolonged treatment by several medics. There will be a long pause while they look after him.
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1 min: We’re off, amid tremendous noise!
Like the Welsh national team? Want them to keep producing fine young players? Know nothing about the country’s domestic league? Why not explore it? You could do worse than read this article. You could read any article by .... actually, let’s not go there.
Great way to start a special day at the @WelshFootballT community awards at the stadium. First winners @HolywellTownFC Club of the year
— Chris Wathan (@ChrisWathan) October 13, 2015
Of course, it’s not all about Wales in Cardiff tonight (anybody actually believed that?). Andorra have their pride, too. And it was on this very day 11 years ago that they got their one and only competitive international victory, a 1-0 drubbing of Macedonia. And my, how they celebrated:
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TEAMS:
Wales: Hennessey; Gunter, Williams, Chester, Davies; Ramsey, Vaughan, Williams; Robson-Kanu, Vokes, Bale
Subs: Taylor, Richards, Allen, King, Fon Williams, Church, Ledley, Edwards, Collins, Ward, Lawrence, Henley
Andorra: Pol; San Nicolás, Sonejee, Llovera, Lima Sola, Rodrigues, Rubio, Vieira, Moreira, Lorenzo, Sanchez
Subs: Gomes Moreira, Riera, Moreno, Peppe, Ayala Diaz, Gomez, García
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Wales, by the way, did more than just reach a major tournament in 1958. They made it out of their group thanks to a play-off win over a fine Hungary side, and only lost in the quarter-final 1-0 to Brazil, a match for which John Charles, whose influence was equivalent to that of Bale on the current team, was injured. Have a gander at the goals from that play-off win over Hungary, featuring a marvellous volley from Ivor Allchurch and a rather harsh bollocking dished out by the goalkeeper afterwards.
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No one needs to spell out a reason for watching this goal again (but even that, which came in a 3-0 win over Spain in which Ian Rush scored either side of Mark Hughes delicious horizontal scissors kick, wasn’t enough):
Preamble:
Hello, welcome, and help yourselves to a drink and some grub. For this is not a football match, it’s a party! Wales are going to the European Championships for the first time and nothing that happens in Cardiff tonight can change that! Unless they do something mad like give the Super Furry Animals a game and then get docked loads of points for fielding ineligible players, but no, Chris Coleman is surely on top of things on that front, and this is a new Wales, no rotten luck, no self-destruction, no more nearly men: they’re off to a major tournament for the first time since 1958! Wales!
All the Super Furry Animals will be doing, then, is entertaining the crowd with some some pre-match drum and axe work. And the Welsh FA have teased the nation by saying there will be a “special surprise” after the game to add to the fun. Feel free to send your suggestions as to what that might be. As for Andorra, all they are requested to do is refrain from injuring anyone, especially the real Prince of Wales, who would be an irreplaceable loss for both country and Real Madrid.
Wales were made to fight for an awkward 2-1 win on an atrocious pitch in Andorra way back at the start of the campaign, but wouldn’t it be nice if things went more smoothly tonight and they banged in a load of goals to give a bumper crowd more to cheer about and, indeed, improve a record of scoring just nine goals in nine qualifiers so far? Not that that is the most important thing; Scotland hit 22 goals and look at them now, wailing helplessly into the night, wondering how they hell they finished below that Ireland team. That used to be pretty much how the Welsh spent their days at the end of qualifying campaigns. But not now. What a time to be a Welsh footballer or fan!
Paul will be here shortly.
