A day after Craig Bellamy apologised with a smile to his Turkish translator for dragging on and on with his answers, his passion as Wales manager was overflowing on the pitch. Heading into the game, Bellamy was understandably nervous like the first day of school, but given the excitement emanating from his team, it was understandable why he was so excited. Officially, it was the opening game of the Nations League against a team four places above them in the rankings, but simply put, it was Bellamy's first test as a manager.
There were still traces of Bellamy's old self, under the constant glare of fourth official Sigurd Kringstad, but he will be pleased with the result: first impressions were a fine, if not flawless, performance against a Turkey side that played more than 35 minutes with 10 men after Baris-Alper Yilmaz was sent off.
Bellamy has captivated audiences and persuasively argued for his methods since taking over in July. By half-time, Wales had twice as many passes as Turkey, almost twice as many touches, five shots to the visitors' one and just under 70% possession. Wales treated the Euro 2024 quarter-finalists like training mannequins for much of the one-sided first half, as if it were an extension of training. On this evidence, it's hard to believe that Bellamy's first session with his players was on Monday. Afterwards, he and his staff held a meeting to hammer out the plan that has been so clearly laid out here.
Bellamy, clad in white sneakers and a black bomber jacket, was eager to get back in familiar surroundings and get started. He said this match was the beginning of a new story for him and his country. His last game as a player was 10 years ago, when he played for his boyhood club Cardiff City against Chelsea. Mohamed Salah was a standout performer for Chelsea, while Fernando Torres scored the winner. The star forward was the only piece Bellamy was obviously missing. Bellamy's team played five men high up the pitch, with captain Aaron Ramsey, Jordan James and Harry Wilson playing in the centre, flanked by surprise additions Brennan Johnson and Sorba Thomas. Thomas, who joined Nantes last month, was busy playing for the first time since March of last year and starting for the first time since June 2022. Thomas shot wide just seconds into the second half.
Thomas' first-half goal was ruled out for offside, but Ramsey had Wales' best chance. Johnson backheeled Connor Roberts with a neat move, then crossed for Ramsey, whose header bounced off his left shoulder and over the bar. Ramsey then came close to scoring from a low corner kick by Thomas, before Ethan Ampadu fired a powerful shot off the upright. Wales looked to be enjoying themselves, and so did their supporters. Bellamy looked delighted from the moment left centre-back Ben Davies played a diagonal pass into space for Johnson to run through, and Bellamy gave Davies a hearty thumbs-up.
Wales did not respond, but Turkey's first meaningful shot came from Yilmaz, who weakly headed a shot into the roof of Danny Ward's net. Ward has recently served as Leicester's reserve goalkeeper and there were some tense moments. Bellamy admitted it was foolhardy to expect everything to go right in the first game, but there were plenty of sharp attacks. Ramsey sent a quick first-time pass to Wilson near the halfway line, but Johnson was unable to get his feet under him quickly and his first-time shot went wide. A minute later, Wilson curled a left-footed shot inches wide of Mart Gunok's goal and Bellamy nearly got his foot up.
Soon afterwards the first Red Wall chant for Bellamy rang out, chanting the name of their beloved former player and now manager, who had succeeded former teammate Rob Page. On the surface Wales' task was much easier after that, with Yilmaz being sent off for a second yellow card for a late tackle on Neco Williams. Yilmaz's first yellow card came in the first half for an altercation with Joe Rodon. The substitutions were aggressive, with experienced Sheffield United striker Kieffer Moore and Liverpool teenager Lewis Koumas coming on for Ramsey and Thomas.
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Minutes after coming on, Moore was caught up in a brawl that ended in a harmless collision when he was hit in the face by Caglar Soyuncu's studs. Moore returned to the pitch with his head bandaged, to the cheers of the home crowd. Turkey had a chance to seal the win late on with a goal from Abdulkerim Bardakci, but his header from a corner was hit by Ward. After eight minutes of added time, Johnson missed and Ampadu tried an overhead kick, but Wales had to settle for a single point and a joyous evening.
