The “Wales” euro berth in our hands

LONDON:

Life after Gareth Bale looked bleak for Wales, but Rob Page’s men have the chance of a third consecutive European Championship appearance in their hands after a remarkable turnaround in Euro 2024 qualifying.

Page’s job was reportedly in jeopardy after the disastrous 4-2 home defeat to Armenia followed by a 2-0 defeat away to Turkey in June.

However, a famous 2-1 win over World Cup semi-finalists Croatia in Cardiff last month has given Wales fresh hope that they can reach Germany next year and fueled optimism for the future.

Wales still need two wins from their last two games in Group D, away to Armenia and at home to already qualified Turkey, to guarantee qualification.

But they have the safety net of having effectively secured a place in the play-offs thanks to their Nations League qualification.

“We want to win both games to qualify as it’s in our hands,” Page said.

“We didn’t like what we saw in June. We put things in place in September (2-0 in Latvia) and built on that in October and then closed it with one of the best performances I’ve seen.

“But we have to build on it as it won’t count for anything if we don’t follow through. We have to maintain those levels.”

A year ago, Page’s men were preparing for their first World Cup since 1958.

But the joy of reaching the finals in Qatar quickly evaporated. Bale’s late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw against the United States, before painful defeats to Iran and England left them reeling.

Page faced a double challenge 12 months ago – the aging veterans didn’t have the legs to play three strong games in nine days, while many in their prime had few minutes at club level.

Aaron Ramsey’s current injury absence means Tottenham defender Ben Davies is the only away player in the squad left from the group that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

That tournament in France was Wales’ first major finals appearance for 58 years and gave them a taste for more.

Brennan Johnson is the man tasked with stepping in for Bale and the Tottenham striker is back after missing last month’s internationals through injury.

In his absence, Fulham winger Harry Wilson answered the call for new heroes, scoring twice against a star-studded Croatia side.

Birmingham teenager Jordan James has been a revelation since stepping into the void left by Joe Allen’s retirement from international football.

And Leeds’ relegation to the Championship helped Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon find regular first-team football alongside Daniel James after the winger returned to his parent club after a loan spell at Fulham.

However, Page still has to rely on a core of players who earn their living in England’s second tier.

Davies, Ramsey’s captain, is one of the few proven Premier League players in the squad, but even he has made just two league starts for Spurs this season.

“We’re up to the challenge and here we are two games to go, still in the race,” Davies said.

“We never stopped believing in this team. The mentality we have is that we can get a result against anyone. We’ve shown that.”