Craig Bellamy earned his first senior Wales cap in 1998.
World Cup Qualifier: Wales v Belgium
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium Date: Monday, 13 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales, S4C, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary.
There are certain terms that Craig Bellamy eschews, established football concepts that find no place in his vocabulary.
“Risk” is a “horrid word” in the estimation of the Wales head coach, who dismissed any notion of risk in choosing England as friendly opponents.
He is similarly unsympathetic to traditional tactical jargon. “We don’t play formations, we play shapes,” he states.
And as for the concept of friendly matches? “There’s no such thing as friendlies.”
Unfortunately for Bellamy and his squad, Thomas Tuchel and England appeared to share that sentiment at Wembley on Thursday.
They approached the contest with the intensity of a competitive qualifier or major tournament fixture, overwhelming their visitors with three goals in the opening 20 minutes.
The primary objective for Wales in this match was preparation for Monday’s World Cup qualifier against Belgium. If Bellamy selected England to gauge his players’ response to world-class opposition, he received a resounding answer at Wembley.
“I’d like our egos to be hurt. I’d like us to be annoyed,” he stated. “It’s why I wanted this game. We need to see where we are.”
“We can play Lithuania if you want, and that’s no disrespect to them, but then we’d have loads of the ball and then try to break them down.”
“It’s where do we want to go? Who do we want to be?
“Today, even now, just fills me with motivation but Monday [is] a different game. Learn from this, [learn that] we don’t want this feeling again. You can use it.”
“Once you get your arse kicked you learn the most – and I got my arse kicked.”
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Bellamy adopted a conciliatory tone when facing the media prior to the fixture, presenting his evolution from a fiery, confrontational player to a composed, insightful coach to a wider English audience.
This encounter represented the most rigorous assessment of that new persona to date.
He observed from the Wembley touchline as his team succumbed to the relentless pressure exerted by England.
While Bellamy maintained composure externally, did he replicate this demeanour within the confines of the changing room?
“I quite enjoyed half-time,” he said.
“I was like, ‘now we see’. What are we going to do?
“When those moments happen, it shows who you are as a coach. You can come in bawling and throwing stuff, but to who? It makes no sense. Me, I’m calm.”
“This is a moment we need to relish. It’s not gone well for us, [so] how are we going to do something about it? Now we see who we are. I like those moments.”
Bellamy has a clear vision for his team’s style of play – high pressing, proactive attacking – but acknowledges the limitations imposed by superior opposition in situations such as this.
“I look at England, their physical profile, the speed, the duels. Of course, it helps when you’ve got a lot of players playing in the Champions League, but that’s where you want our players to be,” he said.
“[For] the players, it’s ‘this is where we want to be’. But we also know, we have to be at the top of our game to be able to play against these types of nations.”
“On Monday we have to be at the top of our game.”
While Bellamy sought a Wales victory at Wembley for the first time since 1977, his primary focus undoubtedly remains Monday’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium.
Bellamy’s choice of England, and Canada the previous month, as friendly opponents was driven by the need to prepare his players for the challenges inherent in high-stakes fixtures.
“That’s why these games are so beneficial,” he said.
Wales will gain a clearer understanding of their standing in the World Cup qualifying group after Belgium’s match against North Macedonia in Ghent on Friday evening.
North Macedonia currently lead the group with 11 points, one point ahead of Wales and Belgium, with the latter ahead of Bellamy’s side on goal difference and possessing a game in hand against their rivals.
To secure automatic qualification by topping the group, Wales must win all three of their remaining matches and hope Belgium relinquish points on more than one occasion.
The Wales squad will watch Friday’s match in their team room following dinner at their training base outside Cardiff, while Bellamy will already have dedicated extensive hours to analysing previous encounters with Belgium as part of his preparations.
As Monday night approaches, Wales will be prepared – albeit potentially carrying the bruises of their experience at Wembley.
“It’s not exactly [as] planned [the result against England] but Monday’s a different game,” said Bellamy.
“I’m already looking forward to it.”
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