{"id":849937,"date":"2026-03-25T19:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/849937\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:16:14","slug":"there-wont-be-any-regrets-bellamy-steels-wales-for-last-world-cup-push-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/849937\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018There won\u2019t be any regrets\u2019: Bellamy steels Wales for last World Cup push | Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHave you ever seen Usain Bolt in the 100m?\u201d Craig Bellamy asks a crowd of journalists in the Wynnstay auditorium at Wales\u2019s hub in Hensol, on the eve of the World Cup playoff semi-final against Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s smiling, waving \u2013 all right, it does help he knows he can run at 60% to win \u2013 but he has discovered the art of being relaxed and calm to be able to run at his best speed. If you\u2019re tense, you\u2019re fighting yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellamy has been there as a player but as a head coach, while intense and fiercely driven, he believes cool heads will prevail at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday and, if they get the right result, in the playoff final at the same venue five days later. It is a message he has relayed in each session, every conversation, since his squad gathered on Sunday. \u201cWe all want something, but the more you want something, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to get it,\u201d he says. \u201cIn sport, I dislike the word \u2018pressure\u2019. It is a privilege to be where we are now. Why wouldn\u2019t you enjoy this? If you can\u2019t enjoy this and you only feel pressure, you ain\u2019t made for elite sport. You put that on your shoulders, it gets you nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prize on offer is a place at successive World Cups. Wales missed Euro 2024 after losing a playoff against Poland on penalties<\/a>. \u201cI honestly feel we should be at this tournament \u2013 now we\u2019re going to have to work hard to get there \u2013 but I believe we\u2019ll be a massive asset to this World Cup: our players, our fans and our coaching team,\u201d Bellamy says. \u201cNow, we\u2019ve got a lot to do \u2026 on the flip side, I have to be prepared for all outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knows the power of qualification, the value of the associated financial boost and the knock-on effect at grassroots. He cites the Welsh language channel S4C showing footage of schoolgirls celebrating Wales<\/a> securing a spot at the 2025 Women\u2019s European Championship. \u201cI was so proud, it was amazing: \u2018Wow.\u2019 If we\u2019re able to do it, we\u2019ll create those moments again.\u201d<\/p>\n

As always, Bellamy has done his homework. Take the research he has done digging into the background of Bosnia and Herzegovina, their culture and the makeup of their squad; he knows 11 of their 35-man squad were born in Bosnia, the others in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. \u201cI love history, it was one of the few subjects I enjoyed in school. I knew a lot about Bosnia because of what happened in the early 90s. I remember the 92 Euros when Yugoslavia got pulled out because of what was going on and Denmark took their place, and ended up winning it. I\u2019ve always been interested in the Balkan region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old, who never made it to a major tournament with Wales as a player, is not lacking belief, even if they are without their regular captain, Ben Davies, through injury, meaning the Leeds midfielder Ethan Ampadu will again deputise. Bellamy claims Wales rank sixth among European countries in terms of possession and since he took the reins approaching two years ago, Montenegro, in a \u201cmad game\u201d, and England are the only opponents to have enjoyed more of the ball. \u201cThere won\u2019t be any regrets, we\u2019re not that way \u2026 whether the result goes our way or not, I know we\u2019ll give everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry Wilson (centre) goes after the ball in training as Wales prepare for their playoff semi-final against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photograph: Nick Potts\/PA<\/p>\n

Whatever happens, after this month Bellamy hopes to consign playoffs to the past. Wales triumphed against Ukraine<\/a> to reach Qatar in 2022 but their last experience ended in pain, when Wojciech Szczesny was Poland\u2019s hero. Bellamy wants to build a team capable of competing for top spot in qualifying. \u201cWe\u2019ve enjoyed them, we\u2019ve had great times \u2026 we\u2019ve seen the Championship, League One, League Two playoffs, there is no better way of going up than through those moments and, if that\u2019s the case over the next few days, then brilliant. But I\u2019d much prefer to finish No 1 and not have to go through any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellamy has purposefully kept his distance from the finals, not attending December\u2019s draw in Washington DC or visiting their potential Salt Lake City base in person, his mantra in effect that Wales have achieved nothing yet and he should only visit once they have a flag in the ground. That is not to say Bellamy is not across every detail, with staff acutely aware of special requests relating to training pitches and the desired environment.<\/p>\n

Despite having little more than 72 hours and three training sessions with his squad \u2013 some players have only trained once owing to their recovery schedules \u2013 there is a discernible wave of momentum carried forward from the end of the regular qualifying campaign that ended in style with a 7-1 trouncing of North Macedonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two games to keep this thing marching,\u201d Bellamy says. \u201cWhat do you think\u2019s happening tomorrow? We\u2019re going all out, we ain\u2019t sitting back. You might look at me after the game, maybe I need to change, but we\u2019ll deal with that question then. This is us, this is who I am, this is who my coaching staff and players are. If it fails, I can sleep. Do you know why I\u2019m so calm? Because we\u2019re such a good team. The rest will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHave you ever seen Usain Bolt in the 100m?\u201d Craig Bellamy asks a crowd of journalists in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-849937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116291422527810771","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}