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WITHOUT BALE AROUND TO FINISH, CAN WALES DEFEAT THE, ER, FINNISH?
WALES VS FINLAND
“They’re not a good side. You’ve seen two poor sides trying to contest this group – neither has a glimmer of hope qualifying.”
The last time Wales hosted Finland in a qualifying match for a major tournament, Craig Bellamy didn’t pull his punches. The visitors triumphed 2-0 over John Toshack’s charges at a sparsely populated Millennium Stadium in March 2009, and the bristling Welsh skipper was spot on – neither nation came close to reaching the 2010 World Cup.
Fifteen years ago, these two countries had just one major tournament outing between them – the Dragons’ foray to the 1958 World Cup – but their chances of reaching Euro 2024 are decent, as they go head-to-head in a play-off semi-final showdown at Cardiff City Stadium on March 21.
Wales have qualified for three of the last four major tournaments, Finland made Euro 2020 and, crucially, whoever wins the semi-final will have a home tie in the final five days later, against Poland or Estonia.
For both, though, the challenge is to qualify with their star players either on the wane or,
