Wales manager Craig Bellamy came face-to-face with Bosnian star Edin Dzeko during the final stages of the World Cup play-offs in Cardiff on Thursday. The two sides were in a head-to-head battle for a spot in the World Cup play-off final against Italy on Tuesday, with the match going into extra time and a penalty shootout.
Dan James scored from the best area with 25 yards to go and Nikola Vasili’s unparalleled thunderbolt into the Bosnian goal gave the home side a commanding lead. It felt like it was only a matter of time before Wales would score a second goal as Bellamy’s side kept knocking on the door.
Unfortunately for the World Cup hopefuls, it didn’t happen. Instead, Bosnia’s second goal of the game came from former Manchester City star Dzeko, who headed home from close range. Dzeko, now in his 40s, scored the equalizer with a goal half a yard inside the penalty area.
The game continued until the 90th minute, with 30 minutes of overtime added, but tensions were high on the sidelines. Bellamy and several Welsh coaches were furious after a Bosnian player went down injured following a soft attack, much to the disgust of the opposition bench.
Both benches exchanged words, but Bellamy and Dzeko were the most active. The pair were involved in a brief scuffle, and the referee showed both players and Bosnian coach Sergei Barbares yellow cards for their trouble.
However, it was Dzeko and Bosnia who had the last laugh, as they reached the play-off final. Shootout misses by Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams hurt Wales, who were denied consecutive World Cup appearances for the first time in their history.
After the match, captain Ethan Ampadu told the BBC: “I’m speechless. I prepared as well as I could and I think I played well. I’m proud because I fought for everything, but sometimes things don’t go your way in life.”
“We’ll always look back at what we could have done better. Maybe we could have managed the last 10 minutes better and stayed more aggressive. That’s something we can look at in the future, but for now it’s very disappointing.”
