Wales World Cup Qualifying Preview 2010...

Typically it would seem that Wales found them selves in a hard World Cup qualification group. The group they were in contained Wales, Germany, Finland, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan and Russia. John Toschack and the youthful Welsh have to bout with Germany. So then who are the other teams Wales needs to worry about when they start up on 6th September with Azerbaijan?

The biggest threat excluding Germany is Russia. The Russian players make great money playing football in the Russian league. Its unsure if manager Gus Hiddink will remain in the helm when the qualifications start, but this extremely talented team can win against any team. After Germany and Russia is Finland. They have some great youthful players that mix well with the seasoned professionals.

There is a rising feeling in Wales that the youthful generation of footballing talents could give the Wales national team a boost. The two teams remaining are Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein . If Wales is to make it to the finals it will be important that they make good points against these smaller teams. The Russian playmaker, Andrei Arshavin, is earning great reviews in the Euro 2008, and for Germany, the usual well known players will catch the attention and Welsh fans will be counting on their captain, Craig Bellamy to motivate the Welsh team.

Liechtenstien, Azerbaijan and Finland all have very good players, and there will be new talent that comes from these teams. Wales will need to rise above their norm in order to make it to the South Africa World Cup 2010. Welsh fans will be hoping for a successful campaign.

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Wales Football Post War...

Wales, and four home nations, came back to the FIFA in 1946 and participated in the qualifier bouts for the World Cup in 1950. The two top teams would make it to the finals held in Brazil, but Wales didn’t make it. The 1950s were a great time for Welsh football with the stars like Alf Sherwood, John Charles, Jack Kelsey, as well as Ivor Allchurch. In 1958, Wales made its one and only World Cup. Having finished 2nd to Czechoslovakia in the qualifying Group 4, the Welsh had thought that their chances of going to Sweden were over. Welsh football had gone with out the politics in the Middle East.

Egypt and Sudan would not play with Israel and Indonesia required meeting Israel in a neutral location. Because of this Israel was announced winners of their group in Asian/African area. FIFA didn’t want to let a team qualify for the World Cup finals with out even playing so lots were drawn for the second place teams in the UEFA. Belgium was pulled but wouldn’t play, so then Wales was pulled and given a two legged play off with Israel and a place in Sweden for the winning team.

After beating Israel 2-0 at the Ramat Gan Stadium and 2-0 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales ended up at the World Cup Finals. The Welsh made their point in Sweden, pulling all the matches for their group against Mexico, Hungary, and Sweden before winning against the Hungarians in a play off bout to get to the finals. There the Welsh lost to Brazil 1-0, with Pele getting the sole goal of the bout for the South American. Wales’ chance of winning was capped by an injury of John Charles.

Wales Football – The Early Years...

The real first match Wales played was in March of 1876 against Scotland, which was is the 3rd oldest football team in the world. Although Scotland did win the first bout, another bout was scheduled in Wales the next year. That was the first in the international football bouts in Welsh at The Racecourse Ground at Wrexham in March of 1877. Scotland won 2–0.

The first match for Wales’ and England was in 1879 a 2-1 win at Kennington Oval, London and then in 1882 Wales played Ireland succeeding 7-1 in Wrexham.  The associations of the four Home Nations gathered in Manchester in December of 1882 to create the rules. This meeting was the creation of the International Football Association Board and the ability to make change to these rules is a job that they still do.

The British Home Championship began in the 1883-1884 season, which was a tournament that was played once a year with England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Wales was the winner on 12 different occasions, winning seven times and sharing the win on five.

The FAW joined FIFA, world football’s governing unit, back in 1906, however the relationship with FIFA and the British associations was not good and the British nations left the FIFA in the 1920s in an argument over payments to it amateur members.

The result was Wales didn’t join in the first 3 World Cups.