[Fm14] Wales: The Golden Generation?

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Tom Conwy has selected his squad to face USA and Luxembourg. A major talking point has been the decision to leave out both Boaz Myhill and Craig Bellamy. Myhill has not featured for West Brom in their first season back in the Championship, while Bellamy is still searching for a club having been released by Cardiff at the end of last season. James Chester has been selected and is in line to make his first cap having chosen to represent Wales. Colchester’s English born midfielder, Sanchez Watt, has also been selected. Joe Ledley has fitness issues but there is a return for Darcy Blake, now at Scottish side Hibernian.

Wales slumped to 2-0 defeat to the USA last night as they were tactically outplayed in all areas of the park. Wales missed the chance to go ahead when Aaron Ramsey’s penalty was saved by Brad Guzan. Sacha Kljestan and Jozy Altidore scored second half goals as the USA eased to victory. Gareth Bale sat out the game with fitness issues and will be monitored before the game against Luxembourg.

Hennessey
Gunter (Ricketts '86 )
Chester (Blake '69 )
A. Williams ©
Davies
Allen
Ramsey (Collison '69 )
King (Vokes '86 )
J. Williams (Watt '45 )
Robson-Kanu
Church (Earnshaw '45 )

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Wales’ 4-0 win over Luxembourg was the ideal response after their insipid display against the United States. As predicated, Luxembourg offered little resistance and went down without a fight. Hal Robson-Kanu opened the scoring with a fabulous curling effort from the corner of the 18-yard box before Wales’ big guns all got involved. Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen all found the net in an efficient Wales performance. Although early days, Wales will be happy to lead the group on goal difference.

Hennessey
Gunter
A. Williams ©
Chester
Davies
Allen
Ramsey (King ’85 )
J. Williams
Robson-Kanu
Bale (Watt ’72 )
Vokes (Earnshaw ’72 )

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Tom Conwy gave a brief interview with BBC Wales after his team's comfortable 4-0 win over Luxembourg. He said, "After the poor performance against against the USA, it was vital we gave a good account of ourselves here. We've got off to a strong start that will put us in a great position to build on for the rest of the European Championships."

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It is with great pride that Wales can announce friendlies with the World Champions, Brazil and Ecuador later this year. Wales will be Brazil’s first European opposition since winning the World Cup earlier this summer, where they won every game after an opening tournament draw with Morocco. Brazil scored 16 goals in the World Cup, and Wales will have to retain a tight defence to keep Neymar and co. out.

Ecuador were knocked out in the Second Round of the World Cup, losing 3-0 to Japan and recently lost 3-1 to England.

A spokesperson for the FAW said, "We are delighted that Wales have been chosen to face Brazil and Ecuador. Both teams play wonderful attacking football and it will be a pleasure to host them."

The game with Brazil will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Wales normally play their home games at Cardiff or Swansea City's home stadiums and occasionally in Wrexham and Llanelli. However, with what is expected to be a very high turnout, the FAW has decided to use the 75,000 capacity stadium.

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Tom Conwy faces a difficult task ahead of the European Championship games with Iceland and Belgium later this week as he copes with a defensive headache. James Chester, Danny Collins, James Collins and Danny Gabbidon have all been ruled out.

This leaves Ashley Williams the only senior centre back in his Conwy’s squad. Huddersfield’s Joel Lynch has been called up despite having only made one Premier League appearance this season. Lewin Nyatanga is also recalled, as is Adam Matthews, who has recovered from an injury. Elsewhere Owain fon-Williams and Robert Earnshaw will also miss out with injuries. Leeds striker Steve Morison is also called up to the squad having not represented Wales since Conwy took over.

With continuing concerns over the fitness of Lynch, Matthews, Sam Vokes and Joe Ledley, Tom Conwy will face a real dilemma when his team line-up against Iceland.

Wayne Hennessey has been ruled out for Wales’ first European Championship qualifier with Iceland but may still feature against Belgium. Karlow Darlow and Boaz Myhill will now fight it out for the goalkeeper position.

Meanwhile, Conwy’s already threadbare defence has taken another turn for the worse as Darcy Blake has been sent back to Hibernian with an injury. With very few options, Conwy has called up Crewe Alexandra centre half, George Ray, who has been playing with the Wales U21’s. Ray has barely featured for Crewe this season and has only made 6 senior league appearances in his entire career. Tom Conwy and his side will be sincerely hoping their injury crisis eases before their games with Iceland and Belgium.

The FAW has submitted an amended squad list to UEFA.


Of Ray's call-up, Tom Conwy said, "I can't say I know a huge amount of George but whenever I've been down the U21's he's put in a decent shift. I spoke to Geraint Williams (Wales U21 manager) after Darcy's injury because I needed someone who was ready to slot straight into the team. He's been training with U21's this week and calling someone else up last minute would have upset our routine."

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Following a nervy last minute winner over Iceland, Wales’ 3-2 win over the island nation was a closer call than many expected. With a squad already lacking in any meaningful defensive cover, Conwy elected to start Lewin Nyatanga over Joel Lynch to partner Ashley Williams at the back. The Huddersfield defender has not managed to re-establish himself in his club side since an injury suffered on the opening day of the season. Meanwhile, Nyatanga has not been selected for a Wales squad since Conwy’s first game against San Marino, where he failed to make the field. Karl Darlow was picked ahead of Boaz Myhill in goal.

With Sam Vokes was struggling for match sharpness, Simon Church started up front and repaid his manager’s faith by scoring the opener, finishing smartly after Robson-Kanu broke through the Icelandic defence.

Two goals in three minutes turned the game on it's head and Wales were left to fight for a result. Alfreð Finnbogason the quickest to react to Darlow’s parry before Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson headed in a second after a beautiful cross from Tottenham’s Gylfi Sigurðsson.

Wales pressed, searching for an equaliser and were rewarded in the 85th minute when Gareth Bale met Chris Gunter’s excellently weighted cross at the back post and fired in. Bale’s finish culminated a fantastic display of one-touch football between Allen, Robson-Kanu, King and Gunter.

Wales thought they had it won in the 92nd minute when Jon Williams had the ball in the net but the goal was ruled out. Incredibly, in an almost mirrored move less than a minute later, Jon Williams steered the ball into the top corner to add a dramatic winner.

Darlow
Gunter
A. Williams ©
Nyatanga (Lynch '89 )
Davies
Collison (King '80 )
Allen
Ramsey
Robson-Kanu (J. Williams '89 )
Bale
Church

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Wales will be without right back Chris Gunter as they take on Belgium later this week. It leaves Wales with an increasingly threadbare back four with a number of the Welsh defenders out with injury. Wales’ other option at right back is Adam Matthews but he is also struggling for match fitness, only recently recovering from an injury himself.

With both teams having won their first two fixtures, a win for either team will take them to the top of the group and in a great position to qualify for the European Championships at an early stage.

Tom Conwy spoke BBC Wales about his team’s latest injury, “It’s absolutely ridiculous. We’re hardly blessed for depth as it is but I think I’ve counted around seven or eight injuries to our defence and goalkeepers for this selection. A number of our players have turned up for duty in a poor condition too.”

When asked about Gunter’s injury, Conwy explained, “It’s putting us in a very difficult position when we come to play Belgium. They possess an incredibly potent attack and when we’re missing so many players I may have to put someone in out of position and that's obviously not ideal.”

Wales have fallen to a 0-1 defeat to Belgium, for the second time in a year. Eden Hazard’s long range effort just before halftime was enough to give Belgium the win.

Karl Darlow retained his position in goal and will have done no harm in his claim for the Wales number one jersey, despite his team's defeat. Nyatanga also kept his position as Joel Lynch could not shake his fitness issues, while Neil Taylor took to right back to replace Chris Gunter. Joe Ledley and Sam Vokes overcame their own fitness concerns to start.

Darlow
Taylor
A. Williams ©
Nyatanga
Davies
Ledley (King ’75 )
Ramsey
Allen
J. Williams (Robson-Kanu ’45 )
Bale
Vokes

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Crystal Palace midfielder, Jon Williams, spoke to BBC Sport after Wales’ games with Iceland and Belgium. Despite a win over Iceland, Wales were beaten by Belgium and even though the result was widely expected, Williams believes the general mood around the Wales camp is that the team missed a major opportunity to top the group.

When asked if this feeling was shared throughout the dressing room, Williams replied, “The team feel there has never been a better chance to qualify for a major tournament. We simply must start taking our chances against better opposition if we want to achieve this. The next qualifier is against Bosnia and they are level on points with us, so that one really will be a decider.”

The game against Bosnia will not take place until June, but Wales will play friendlies with Brazil and Ecuador in the meantime.

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Wales announce squad ahead of South American takeover

Tom Conwy has released his upcoming squad for the international friendlies with Brazil and Ecuador. Karl Darlow has been told he will retain the number one jersey for the upcoming game with Brazil following his recent international heroics.

Tom Conwy has elected to call up a number of uncapped players, including Blackburn’s Adam Henley, Yeovil centre half Ash Taylor and Aberdeen’s Marley Watkins, clearly looking to experiment for future squads. Colchester’s Sanchez Watt has also impressed with his club form and is recalled alongside Craig Davies, who hasn't played for Wales in nearly 12 months.

Wales put up a real fight and were unlucky to lose in their 0-1 defeat to World Champions, Brazil in a sold-out Millenium Stadium. However, despite their defensive heroics, their attacking threat was limited with Gareth Bale asking the only real questions up front.

Oscar’s cross deflected into the net off Wales captain, Ashley Williams, who will be bitterly disappointed after a staunch defensive display.

Despite the loss, Tom Conwy seemed pleased with result, speaking with the BBC after the game he said, “It’s not a bad sign at all. We’ve shown we can run with the big boys, at least most of the way. With a performance like that there’s no reason we can’t go out and beat Ecuador later this week.”

Darlow
Taylor (Eardley ’80 )
Williams ©
Lynch (Nyatanga ’80 )
B. Davies
Ledley (King ’60 )
Ramsey
Allen
Robson-Kanu (Watt ’80 )
Bale (Earnshaw ’89 )
Vokes (C. Davies ’60 )

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In what will go down as one of Wales’ poorest performance of the last two years, Wales were completely outplayed by Ecuador as Marlon de Jesus scored a magnificent hat-trick for the South Americans as they ran to a 4-1 win.

Debutant Ash Taylor had a nightmare start, scoring an own goal within 8 minutes, only one minute after Sanchez Watt leapt on the Ecuador keeper’s spilled save. Watt, making only his 4th Welsh appearance, started up front as Tom Conwy looked to experiment his striking options.

Tom Conwy cut an exasperated figure from the Wales dugout, frequently shouting instructions to his players but to no effect. He will be asking serious questions of his team before their next games.

Hennessey
Eardley (Henley ’45 )
Williams ©
A. Taylor (Lynch ’45 )
B. Davies
Collison (Ramsey ’45 )
King (C. Davies ’69 )
Allen
Watkins (Vokes ’69 )
Bale
Watt (Robson-Kanu ’86 )

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After Wales’ defeats to Brazil and Ecuador, Tom Conwy has reportedly demanded the FAW sanction time for the squad to tour overseas in an attempt to bond before what Conwy considers a make-or-break qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina in June.

Conwy has pencilled in the March international break to tour the Middle East. After training in Dubai, Wales will face Qatar and Egypt in competitive friendlies.

It is an unprecedented move for the FAW, who operate on a limited financial budget. However, with Wales’ game against Brazil selling out and their performance in competitive fixtures has encouraged more and more big crowds and merchandise sales. Players like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have a considerable marketability and the FAW hopes that the tour, that also includes sightseeing trips around the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, will inspire wealthy Arabs to buy into the Wales brand.

Tom Conwy has reportedly offered to subsidise portions of the tour himself.

When asked why a tour was necessary, Conwy was candid with his response, “It is vital we can foster a positive attitude between our players before that Bosnia game. These players haven’t been to a major tournament before so they’ve not had the chance to be around each other for continuous periods of time.”

One reporter asked if his player’s club managers will be upset with Conwy’s decision to take their players away during what is considered ‘crunch time’ of the season, Conwy replied, “I’ve spoken to a few managers like Ancelotti and Wenger that their players will be coming away in March and a few others as well. But I don’t have time to call them all. Managers have to accept that if I need my players, then they will play, regardless of their club’s league positions.”

interesting idea man! hopefully those friendlies will pull the squad together, and you'll be able to get a result in the qualifier!

TodayAtTomorrow - Thanks dude, i'm hoping so too. Having a bad time in games need to pick up, my ranking is falling badly and my team are all over the place.