Wales sink Kazhakstan to get World Cup campaign up and running

It was not pitch perfect but Wales made a winning start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, the substitute Rabbi Matondo capping victory in stoppage time after Ben Davies and Daniel James scored either side of a Kazakhstan penalty. The hush of trepidation that filled the Cardiff air approaching the final whistle served to confirm what proved an awkward night as Wales edged past Kazakhstan, 110th in the world, to preserve Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten record in charge, though an improved performance is surely required if that is to remain in North Macedonia on Tuesday.

Wales hope this is the start of another memorable journey. And one with a happier ending than three woeful group-stage performances. This week even Ben Davies, a typically uber-cautious talker, did not dress up Wales’s showing at the last World Cup. “The best moment of Qatar was probably just the Ukraine [playoff] game in getting there,” said the defender, again captain in the absence of Aaron Ramsey, who is out for the rest of the season after hamstring surgery. A determination to do themselves justice on the biggest stage pervades this Wales squad but Bellamy was the first to acknowledge they cannot allow that desire to overwhelm them.

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