Two big games face Wales this Saturday and on Tuesday. The first is against Türkiye at the Kaide Has stadium complex in Kayseri, a city in central Türkiye. The second with a 7:45pm Kick at home on Tuesday against Iceland. The 32,000 ish capacity at Kaide is the home of Kayserispor and Kayseri Erciyesspor, utilising the complex accordingly. The game kicks off at 5pm UK time.

Turkey v Wales, Sat, 16th Nov 2024, 5pm
Wales v Iceland, Tue, 19th Nov 2024, 7:45pm

Once again a large number of the Red Wall will be there with special security in place for travel to and from the game from the city itself. Thus is free. Ticket availability is virtually impossible to find, the FAW. (Wales) were given a 1,000 tickets which are now off sale. We are pretty certain our mate Gavin from Cardiff will be there in possession of a suitcase full of Cardiff City flags, given to him by people who won’t be attending.

Brilliant guy.

The Wales squad has been selected, and yes it does look wafer thin, but the quality in there is good enough to win any game. The latest on the Wales squad is as follows : Nathan Broadhead (minor injury) Charlie Crew called up from stand by. Wes Burns minor knee problem. Confirmation as reported on Owen Beck (back/hip) is out, Kieffer Moore (calf) out. Wes Burns (news to follow) Jay Silva, Luke Harris and Charlie Savage have also been called up. (Dragon Soccer)

Swansea City midfielder, Joe Allen has been reborn under Craig Bellamy, and he is injury free at this moment in time. Yesterday afternoon talking about his inclusion he said, “It’s a big boost and not something I was expecting in all honesty, but it was an opportunity that was impossible to refuse. “It’s given me a new lease of life in some ways. Listening to Craig’s ambitions, his staff and how he wants to develop the younger players was music to my ears. The ambition is to get to another World Cup and give a better account of ourselves. My message to the younger players in the group is to not take this for granted, it’s a special time.”

Wales first victory against Türkiye came in 1978, the first ever fixture between the countries. A 1-0 win at the Racecourse ground, Wrexham. Some of that side are no longer with us, Leighton James of course and Dai Davies. Phil Dwyer played a defensive role that evening, he too has passed. Just under 12,000 watched that game in a European Championship qualifier. Remember Mike Smith ? He was the manager. Nick Deacy scored the only goal. Victories in Türkiye ? There have been just two, but of course there have only been five games. Wales first won in 1981 in a World Cup qualifier in Ankara. Then again in 2021 in another Euros qualifier with Connor Roberts scoring the second goal in the last minute of the game.

Wales manager, Craig Bellamy has already spoken about the game this coming Saturday, he has experience of playing in Türkiye, “It's a really good game to play against a top nation like Türkiye, with a top manager. Being in Türkiye we're fully prepared for what the atmosphere's going to be like. My mind races to my own experiences of playing there as well; the first fifteen or twenty minutes are going to be tough. Don't expect any favours. Not going to happen. Don't expect in any fifty/fifty’s you're going to come out with the ball. It's not going to happen. Everyone's going to be up, so we're going to have to earn it the hard way”

Wales over this qualifying tournament have gone four games undefeated, a record for any Wales manager starting his first four fixtures in the history of the game. Over that time we have seen a near eighty five percent passing accuracy. The key stats are below.

There are still several permutations on offer as both Iceland and Montenegro have to fulfil their fixtures. IF, and it is a big one Iceland lose in Montenegro, Wales are guaranteed a second place finish, it’s a bit of a long shot. If Wales earn a draw this weekend and Iceland draw the same scenario applies. If the magic happens and Wales win the game on Saturday they will go top one point clear of Türkiye. That would mean a top place finish would be secured with a win over Iceland.

That means play offs etc, commence in March. We will leave the explanations for that for another time. Are these meaningless friendlies ? Ask the nation that earns a Euros place at the end of all this. Or the countries that are promoted into League A earning more high profile fixtures. It’s far better than what we have had before the Nations League commenced, that’s certain. And the six fixtures being condensed into three International breaks (we have to have them) has worked rather well. Come on Cymru !

Photographs Action Images / Reuters : Stats UEFA

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