Craig Bellamy said Wales’s stirring comeback, despite Kevin De Bruyne inflicting the first defeat of his tenure in a seven-goal epic in Belgium, is evidence of his team’s changed mindset. The Wales manager said he played in hope across his career but now recognises belief in his squad.
Bellamy praised his players after they roused from 3-0 down to draw level at 3-3 before De Bruyne snatched victory in the 88th minute.
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Wales trailed 3-0 inside 27 minutes after a Romelu Lukaku penalty and strikes by Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku. But Wales pulled a goal back on the verge of half-time when Harry Wilson converted a penalty and second-half goals from Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson brought Bellamy’s side level.
Asked what he said to his players after the game, the 45-year-old said: “I thanked them because they’ve given me something I never had in international football – belief. You’ve seen 5,500 fans here – the most we’ve taken away, apart from maybe England across the border – because they believe. I believe.
“In international football I had 70-odd caps [Bellamy won 78 caps as a player] where I didn’t believe. It was hope. I don’t want to live on hope. It’s the hope that kills you. It’s [about] belief. Can we come here and win? Three-nil down, still believing? It’s crazy.”
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Bellamy promised that his team would not “camp” in Brussels and, despite a dreadful start, they came within minutes of a valuable point in Group J. “It was like: ‘We told you you’d be able to play here.’ I’d rather try something great and fail than do nothing and succeed. I’ve always been that way. I might not be great at anything but I’ll try to be. It means more. I liked that. What can we do here?
“I said I wasn’t coming to sit back, it’s not in my nature, don’t do it … it’s not who we are. So for me it was: can we come to a top-eight team in the world then and come and play?
“Before we’ve played here and it has been a different Wales. You have the ball, we sit deep – to change a mindset is completely different.
“You need these types of tests. I know it’s a loss and, listen, it’s not valiant Wales, no, it’s a loss, I don’t like it but also … if you’re going to give me a loss, give me this loss.”
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