Wales 1-Norway 1
Hughes Happy, Tosh Ticked Off.
Man at the Millenium, Adrian Colley, Sees Wales Prove a Point Against Norway
Bought the new kit yet?
Even Kate Moss would look fat in it. After buying the XXL size,
I recommend Kappa bring out a bigger size. Instead of calling
it XXXL, they could call it 'Hartson'. Shows your nipples off
a treat too. Even with a T-shirt underneath. Bit of a dilemma
that, cos if you wear a T-shirt, you look even chubbier in it.
But even if it won't flatter our figures at least we can wear
it with pride once more. Something to shout about at long last.
Mark Hughes's insistence on tough friendlies (Qatar apart) is
beginning to pay off.
We're no longer a pushover and can worry a team ranked 12th in
the world. Scurrying Savage, relentless Robbo and the rest of
the midfield helped us look like a team and the goal was a peach,
the best Wales strike since Bellamy downed Denmark with his brain-scrambling
beaut of a header.
Norway must have been overawed by the Stadium's rugby associations.
They seemed determined to kill the play and were happiest defending
and attacking from dead ball situations.
It was like watching Gareth Davies playing rugby in the 80s. Boring
punts upfield returned with interest, usually resulting in a throw
or a restart after some minor infringement. It was a rerun of
an Eighties match, Wimbledon v Sheffield Utd say, before football
became trendy and defenders learned how to keep the ball in play
rather than lump it.
The Blake goal came from a rare patch of open play with Speed
scampering down the left to deliver what looked, to me,
like a hopeful ball. There weren't many other Welshmen in the
box bar Blake, but he still produced a header Dixie Dean would
have been proud of.
That sparked a stomach-churning 20 minutes and a premature wave
of self-congratulation. A mate said that when the Norwegian sub
Helstad came on, an irritating Viking behind him piped up: "Ah,
yes, ve vill score now, with Helstad. He vill score for us."
He f******g did too. The streakiest goal I've seen since Neville
Southallfell over Hagi's speculative prod in 1993. At least it
wasn't the usual gift on a plate, garnished with dollops of Welsh
idiocy.
But I would never have believed a Wales side could play 4-4-2
the way they did. When we tried under Mike Smith we always flattered
to deceive. But the switch of Coleman to left back and a strong
centre-half performance by Robbie Page, who had a stinker in Minsk,
shows that Hughes knows hisplayers' strengths.
Witness the form of Melville, who hasn't put a foot wrong in the
first three games. Under Bobby Ghoul he was often a scapegoat
for shaky performances. Is this the same bloke who was overrun
in Eindhoven four years ago? It was also the first time Hughes
had nearly all the first-choice players available.
Here's hoping that we're still in with a shout for our penultimate
game in Oslo. After all, we know exactly how Norway are going
to play, don't we? Meanwhile, start those diets.
Highlight:
The renaissance of Blake. His goal perked him up like I've never
seen before. He was still buzzing in Warsaw. The proof? He was
even clearing Polish crosses from our area. Never seen that before.
Lowlight:
The Welsh fan who started the chant: "Are you watching Eng-er-land."
No one in England gives a monkey's about us. Usually they don't
even know we've played. Do we have an inferiority complex so strong
that we have to trot this crappy chorus out every time we go a
goal up? It also gives lazy national press scribes - nearly all
English - an easy angle for their report as they tune into their
trannies for the latest from Wembley. Even Swindon fan Bananaman,
from the Wales on Sunday, mentioned it.
Best player:
Blake.
Worst player:
Not applicable
Celebrity Bust-up:
I reckon Toshack's tirade in the Wales on Sunday had a point.
It wasn't too much to expect of Giggs that he reach the by-line
several times to deliver the sort of crosses he does for Man U.
Instead it was Speed who supplied the killer touch. But Tosh,
maybe because he's in Europe so often, ignored the fact that Welsh
fans are so bruised and bewildered by Bobby Ghoul's reign of terror
that a draw is seen as relief.
Fan of the week:
There aren't enough breasts on the pitch these days. So full marks
to the lass who bared all when she jumped on to the pitch right
in front of my seat. Shame I wasn't looking.