Ben Fisher was at the Cardiff City Stadium, and his report has landed. You know what to do! Thanks for reading this MBM, and the best of luck to Wales in Baku and, hopefully, beyond.
Wales concluded their warm-up programme for Euro 2020 with an underwhelming but feisty workout at the Cardiff City Stadium
Updated
Sat 5 Jun 2021 14.08 EDT
First published on Sat 5 Jun 2021 11.00 EDT
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Rob Page speaks to S4C. “There are no injuries, and we’ve got minutes into the players who needed a top-up. It’s always been about next week. We’ve got through unscathed, and we’re all on the plane on Monday looking forward to it. I have a pretty good idea [what the starting XI against Switzerland will be] so we’re pretty set with it. Barring any reactions, we have our plan. We were better in the second half, but irrespective of formations, if you do the basics right - which we didn’t do in the first half, I thought we were quite sloppy at times - it helps and we created a few chances. There was a lap of appreciation for us to say thanks to the fans for being so patient, it’s been an absolute nightmare for them. We’re all in it together, and we can’t wait.”
Ben Davies speaks to Sky Sports. “It was a tough game. I don’t think everything went our way, but we’d rather it go that way now, than in the tournament. There’s a lot to work on this week, but no injuries is the most important thing. It was a proper game for a friendly, but we came through it fine. We’ve had a good few weeks of prep and we’re ready to get started in the tournament.”
It was a feisty affair. Both sides could easily have had a couple of men sent packing, but the referee managed to keep a lid on it. Just about. Wales will be happy to have kept a clean sheet, one that extends their unbeaten home run to 13. They’ll also be pleased with the performance of their second-half subs: Kieffer Moore, Harry Wilson, Jonny Williams and, of course, Gareth Bale injected some much-needed sass into the performance. Neco Williams had a couple of moments as well, coming as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock. Wales will leave for the Euros in good spirits. Baku ahoy!
FULL TIME: Wales 0-0 Albania
No point using up all your goals / luck before the big event, right?
90 min +1: The game sputters out.
90 min: There will be two added minutes.
89 min: His players give it one last go. Some neat triangles are drawn down the left. Jonny Williams stands one up for Moore, who can’t quite get anything away. Wales have looked lively since the slew of substitutions. They’ve been much improved in this second half.
87 min: In his pre-match interview, Rob Page insisted this wasn’t really about the result. Nevertheless, he’s pacing around with a frown on, desperate for the winner that would see his team sent off to Baku with cheers ringing in their ears.
85 min: A rousing performance of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau by the 6,000-strong choir. You make your own amusement when nothing else is going on.
83 min: A melee as Laci comes through the back of Jonny Williams, who springs up and squares up. A huge melee is the inevitable result. Once the comic-book cloud of dust with fists and boots poking out of it dies down, Laci is booked, along with his captain Abrashi and a slightly confused Mepham.
81 min: Another corner; Wilson’s delivery isn’t up to much this time. Wales are pressing hard for the feelgood winner.
80 min: Abrashi slides in on Johnny Williams, who springs up and performs the internationally recognised mime for Calm Down. The referee steps between them, just in case.
78 min: Moore is stopped illegally as he works his way down the right. Free kick. Wilson loops it in. Selmani punches clear, and wins a free kick for falling over, as keepers do.
77 min: Another Albanian sub, as Seferi replaces Manaj.
76 min: More changes. Jonny Williams replaces Brooks, while Bare comes on for Laci and Kallaku replaces Cekici.
74 min: In latest London Bus news, we’ve waited 73 minutes for an effort on target, now there’s been two in 60 seconds. Bale crosses from the left, Moore slaps a header straight at the keeper.
73 min: ... the ball’s worked out to Williams, who creams a shot from the edge of the D towards the top right. Selmani claims in unorthodox fashion, clawing the ball behind him then dropping to smother. That’s the first effort on target by either side.
72 min: Brooks and Wilson take turn to shoot at goal. Both efforts are blocked. Bale then makes his first contribution, winning a corner down the left. From which ...
71 min: With perfect showman’s timing, Bale comes on for Roberts. The assembled 6,000 do their level best to take the roof off the Cardiff City Stadium.
70 min: ... and they’re singing loud and long for Gareth Bale.
68 min: Harry Wilson looks in the mood for this. He drops a shoulder to shimmy his way down the inside-right channel, but doesn’t quite catch his shot, which is pulled harmlessly wide right. That’s pumped the crowd up even more, though.
66 min: Selmani goes walkabout down the right flank! He’s barged off the ball by Moore, and is pretty lucky to hear the referee’s whistle. That looked a fair charge, and Moore would have had a clear run towards an open goal.
65 min: The crowd are doing their bit. Plenty of beautiful noise. Not so much happening on the pitch right now.
63 min: So that’s taken the sting out of the game. Wales were beginning to put a bit of pressure on for the first time, too, Abrashi at one point nearly deflecting a low Roberts left-wing cross into his own net.
61 min: Substitutions galore. Wales replace Ramsey, Allen and Davies with Rodon, Wilson and Smith. Albania swap Lenjani and Balaj for Trashi and Cikalleshi.
58 min: Norrington-Davies shoves Manaj over the touchline near the dugout. Manaj clatters into his manager, who falls over. Edoardo Reja is 75 years old. The shove was clearly deliberate, though he almost certainly wasn’t trying to clean out the manager; even so, Norrington-Davies is lucky to escape with a yellow.
56 min: Ramsey picks out Brooks down the right. A lovely sliderule pass down the channel. Brooks pulls back to nobody in particular. Wales come again, Brooks this time sending a high ball into the mixer. Selmani claims on his line.
55 min: Neco Williams gets fed up of the sterile possession, and tries to blooter home from 30 yards. It’s always heading over the bar, but not by much, and there was plenty of venom behind it. He’s good fun to watch when he slips into Attack Mode.
54 min: See 52 min.
52 min: Wales ping it around for a while. All very pretty, though they never look like advancing into Albania’s final third.
50 min: A corner for Albania is half-cleared. Brooks inexplicably decides to juggle the ball on the edge of his own box, and is quickly stripped of possession. Djimsiti whistles a first-time shot miles over the bar.
49 min: A long ball down the Albanian inside-right channel. Manaj threatens to tear clear, and is caught by Davies. That looked an obvious foul, and Davies was the last man, but the referee decides to do nothing at all. Wales using up some karmic credit for the Neco Williams dismissal on Wednesday there.
48 min: With the arrival of Moore, may we direct you to this?
47 min: Ismajli steps on Ramsey’s foot. The stadium falls silent as the star midfielder stays down ... but then there’s a warm ripple of applause as he gets back up. Hopefully a sore whack, nothing more.
Wales get the second half underway. They’ve replaced Ampadu with Moore, while Albania have swapped Doka for Veseli.
Pre-tournament preparation. Ahead of the Euros, history buffs are advised to bone up on 60 years and 15 tournaments’ worth of action with Euro Summits: The Story of the European Championship by Jonathan O’Brien. Breezy yet comprehensive, fun but authoritative, think of it as a perfect companion piece for Cris Freddi’s famous Complete Book of the World Cup, and I can’t think of praise too much higher than that. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.
HALF TIME: Wales 0-0 Albania
There’s just enough time for Doka to take exception to a shove in the back from Norrington-Davies, keeper Selmani stepping in to keep the peace. And that’s the end of a first half in which Albania looked the more likely. Some half-time changes to come, I’ll be bound.
45 min: Williams sashays in from the right, evading a couple of challenges and getting the crowd going. Just as things look to open up, as he nears the penalty box, he miscontrols. A shame.
44 min: Bare tries to dribble out from the back but is pressed back by Brooks and Roberts. He eventually slips over and concedes a corner. It’s Wales’ first, and it’s a total non-event.
42 min: Wales establish a little more control, though only by lowering the intensity. They go nowhere as a result.
40 min: Brooks whips a ball in from the left. Ramsey slides in to meet at the near post, but can’t get his effort on target. That’s as dangerous as Wales have looked.
39 min: Ampadu hasn’t had a good game so far, but this is much better. Lenjani crosses deep from the left again, and Manaj is waiting to head home. He wins the aerial duel, nodding out for a corner, from which nothing develops.