Wales v Germany match preview

With World Cup qualifying hopes quickly fading away, Wales welcome high-flying Germany to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

There is little denying that after Wales pithy 2-0 loss to Finland on Saturday John Toshack’s side has faced the grim reality that despite gads of promise, an appearance in South Africa is looking very unlikely. While the team needs to, well act like a team and pull in its ranks, criticism from within has reared its ugly head. The managers choice to stack the midfield and use Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy has come under significant scrutiny. Sounding very much like a Fletcher Christian-esque scene, a number of players suggested the attacking pressure wasn’t sufficient. While true to an extent, ball control wasn’t the issue but instead the play-making touch in the final third.

In response to the criticism John Toshack has noted varying levels of fitness and per the BBC, pointing out Gareth Bale, Chris Gunter and Jason Koumas needing playing greater time with their various clubs. That aside Wales is likely to face the Germans with Wigan’s Jason Koumas and Hwlffordd-native Simon Davies, who plays for Fulham, likely out.

Per the Bundesliga web-site, German coach Joachim Löw spoke of Wales.

“The Welsh wanted to improve their position with two home wins during this week of qualifiers, but it didn’t happen. Against us they will try to use the loss to Finland as motivation. They have to beat us to still have a theoretical chance to qualify, so they’ll have to play more offensively than usual. I hope that will create more space for us to use on the pitch. We want to get three points and keep our spot as group leader into the summer break. But its obvious that Wales is a different caliber team than Liechtenstein.”

Thoughts of qualifying aside, Wales must summon the courage against the formidable Germans. In referring their tight 1-0 loss this past October in Mönchengladbach, West Ham’s James Collins said:

“As long as we go into it with a bit of confidence and playing like we did over there, there’s no reason we can’t get a result.”