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Johnson ahead for Wales!”,”caption”:”Brennan Johnson ahead for Wales!”,”credit”:”Photo: Arni Torfason/AP” }}]”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1728672930000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”14.55 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1728673974000,” blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:” 15.12 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1728673034000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”14.57 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”14.57″,”title”:”Goal! Iceland 0-1 Wales (Johnson 11)”, “contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Friday 11 October 2024 15.14 EDT”,”SecondaryDateLine”:”First publication date Friday 11 October 2024 13.30 EDT”},{“id”:”670963158f081a18004e4eb2″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Wales: Ward, Roberts, Rodon, B Davies, N Williams, Thomas, Wilson, J James, Cooper, Johnson, Moore.
Subs: Darlow, A Davies, Mepham, Norrington-Davies, Brooks, Koumas, Cullen, Cabango, Harris, Burns, Sheehan, Broadhead.
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Iceland: Valdimarsson, Fridriksson, Gretarsson, Ingasson, Finnsonn, J Gudmundsson, S Thordarson, Willumsson, A Gudjohnsen, Oskarsson, Thorsteinsson.
Subs: Olafsson, P Gunnarsson, Sampsted, Palsson, Hermansson, Willumsson, G Sigurdsson, Tomasson, Anderson, Johannesson, Traustason, Ellertsson.
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Referee: Antoni Bandic (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
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👀 Byrjunarliðið gegn Wales!
🎟 Miðasala á https://t.co/iwyH4UEb7x – frábært veður, fjölmennum á völlinn!
‼ This is how we start our match against Wales in the UEFA Nations League.#viðerumísland pic.twitter.com/fixcFE2EqJ
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) October 11, 2024
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CYMRU XI 🇮🇸🏴
Tân yn erbyn iâ 🔥❄️
💻 https://t.co/Ee3GvSzrRg#NationsLeague | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/bgUvaorYf2
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) October 11, 2024
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“I’d be worried if there wasn’t expectations,” says Craig Bellamy as he heads into his second round of fixtures as Wales boss. “I certainly don’t believe in ever trying to play them down. I don’t think that would be fair to people who come to watch. If they’re excited that’s exactly where we want them to be. I’ve got to be honest, I’m excited!”
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OK, you’ve sold it, we’re on board too. The all-new freewheeling Wales are in Reykjavík tonight, attempting to follow up exhilarating performances against Turkey and Montenegro with another against Iceland. The show begins at 7.45pm BST. It’s on! HÚH!
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main events
28 minutes: Thorderson was arrested for allegedly extending his leg horizontally to stop Williams in flight. His boot catches the vertical of Nekos' poor Welsh defender. Oh, oh, that hurts.
27 minutes: …No big deal happens. However, Iceland's small attacking success came from the left flank.
26 minutes: Johnson sends a cross to Moore from the right, but Moore is unable to get his header on target. Iceland beat the opposition and Thorsteinsson feeds Oskarsson on the left. Óskarsson wins a corner kick and from there…
24 minutes: Wilson drops his shoulders to create space in the inside right channel and digs. His shot deflected off Ingason and Valdimarsson took a shot off the wrong foot, but Valdimarsson was rooted to the spot. However, the ball hit the base of the right post and went away. Close to 1 second for Wales.
23 minutes: Wales draws it as a neat triangle. The esthetician in the dugout will be very happy.
21 minutes: Thorderson hit an outrageous shot miles over the bar from his best area with 30 yards left. It's still a little early for this kind of despair, but Iceland has hit the square root of nix in the last third so far, and buying a lottery ticket isn't that outrageous in that context.
20 minutes: Wilson and Thorsteinson approach each other even though it's a 50-50 competition. The former winds the latter. The Icelandic forward takes a while to get back on his feet, but eventually he does.
19 minutes: Johnson swings a low cross from the right side. Moore tries to take a shot from the remaining six yards, but doesn't get a good enough shot and Valdi Marsson in the Icelandic goal takes it easily.
17 minutes: Thorsteinsson and Finson momentarily threatened a dangerous combination on the left, but hesitation forced them to turn tail. The former eventually jetted in a wild deep cross for a goal kick.
16 minutes: Wilmson troubles Davies by fooling around with the ball at his feet in his own box, but the pressure only leads to a goal-kick. Iceland has not yet put together a major response.
14 minutes: Well, that's what gave the game some life. Up until then, nothing had happened at all, and then suddenly Craig Bellamy's The Entertainers sprung into action. What a show!
13 minutes: It was a great pass by Williams, falling perfectly to Wilson who timed his run to the nanosecond, beating the Icelandic offside trap.
goal! Iceland 0-1 Wales (Johnson 11)
…That being said, Williams, who plays quarterback from deep, rotates his body and makes a cute long reverse pass from the halfway line to the middle. It falls to Wilson, who tries to cross Valdi Marcon towards the bottom right. The keeper received the ball a little, but was unable to stop the ball as it rolled painfully toward the line. He eventually rushes back and removes the hook, but Johnson arrives and slams it into the house from the yard.
10 minutes: Wales pass backwards for a while, but to no great effect. This match hasn't really started yet.
8 minutes: Gudjohnsen appears on the opposite flank and has players in the middle, but he can't find them as Roberts, who sticks to him like glue, cuts the cross. It's a good all-around play.
7 minutes: Gudjohnsen takes issue with Roberts stopping the quick throw. Again, this all happens near the halfway line, so the referee can't be bothered to get involved.
5 minutes: Other than Thorsteinsson's aforementioned drive to the left, nothing of note has happened yet.
3 minutes: Thorsteinsson made a brave run down the left channel to win the first corner of the match. He takes it for himself. Rodon powerfully dodged the attack with his head amidst the early confusion.
2 minutes: Pretty rough start. Rodon rattled Oscarson and committed a gardener's foul in the middle, but for some reason. very Entertain Oge Fridtjof Hareide. A cheerful smile spreads across his face.
Iceland gets the ball rolling. As befits the nomenclature, it is less than zero.
The team is out! Iceland is blue, Wales is red, and triple-filled if all required forms are completed correctly. I'm leaving soon!
There is some organizational confusion surrounding the Wales under-21 squad. Six players from the team (Cardiff's Rubin Colwill, Blackburn's Owen Beck, Wolves' Lewis Benjamin, Sheffield United's Owen Hampson, Vilanovense's Josh Farrell and Brighton's Ed Turns) will be tested in the afternoon. He was deemed ineligible to play in the crucial Euro U21 qualifier against the Czech Republic. FAW explains as follows: [squints, adjusts pince-nez] It's a “management error”. Wales lost the game 1-2, eliminating their chance of automatic qualification as either leaders or runners-up. This means that even if the Czech Republic beats Lithuania at home on Tuesday, they will not even advance to the qualifying play-offs. Anyway, the old excuse is…
Just a reminder of where Group B4 stands before tonight's kick-off. In the other match, Turkey will host Montenegro at Samsun.
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Türkiye P2 W1 D1 L0 F3 A1 Point 4
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Wales P2 W1 D1 L0 F2 A1 4 points
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Iceland P2 W1 D0 L1 F3 A3 3 points
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Montenegro P2 W0 D0 L2 F1 A4 0 points
Craig Bellamy tells S4C: “I tried to choose the team that is most likely to have a positive result tonight… we have a strong bench… we have a game on Monday as well… transitions and set-pieces, they will be very helpful… I We have a switch on… It's a great opportunity to understand the ideas of the players and the identity they want for the team… Will they be okay without the ball? … Are they organized? … They can control the tempo. … It’s hard to do away from home… Those are important elements of the game.”
Iceland's midfield includes Birmingham City's Willam Thor Wilmsson and Preston North End's Stefan Teitur Thordarsson. Brentford's reserve keeper Hakon Rachn Valdimarsson started in goal. Plymouth Argyle's Victor Paarsson and Birmingham's Alfons Sampstead sit on the bench along with former Swansea, Tottenham and Everton player Gylfi Sigurdsson. Fiorentina forward Albert Guðmundsson was yesterday acquitted of sexual assault charges by a Reykjavík court. Although he is eligible to play, he has not been selected in Oge Fridtjof Hareide's match-day squad.
Iceland have won their last two matches at home. They won 4-0 against Liechtenstein in the Euro 2024 qualifiers last October, and 2-0 against Montenegro in this Nations League group last month. If they win tonight's game, it will be their first three-game winning streak at home since 2019. If Wales win, it will be their first consecutive away win since 2020.
History suggests that Wales are more likely to concede more goals. They have won each of their last four matches against Iceland, the most recent being in 2014. By contrast, Iceland have only beaten Wales once in seven games since 1984. If Wales win tonight, it will be just the third time in this match. They have a history of winning five consecutive games against the same opponent. Wales have won five consecutive games against Azerbaijan (2005-2019) and six consecutive wins against Luxembourg (1974-2010).
Wales made four changes to their starting XI for last month's 2-1 win over Montenegro. Danny Ward, Brennan Johnson, Jordan James and Sorva Thomas will feature in place of Karl Darlow, Luis Koumas, Chris Mepham and the injured Ethan Ampadu. Aaron Ramsey and Daniel James are also out with injuries. Ben Davies will wear the captain's armband in Ramsey's absence.
team
Wales: Ward, Roberts, Rodon, B. Davis, N. Williams, Thomas, Wilson, J. James, Cooper, Johnson, Moore.
Subs: Darlow, A. Davies, Mepham, Norrington-Davies, Brooks, Coomas, Cullen, Kavango, Harris, Barnes, Sheehan, Broadhead.
Iceland: Valdimarsson, Fridriksson, Gretarsson, Ingasson, Finsson, J. Gudmundsson, S. Thorderson, Wilmsson, A. Gudjohnsen, Øskarsson, Thorsteinsson.
Subs: Olafsson, P. Gunnarsson, Sampstead, Palsson, Hermansson, Wilmsson, G. Sigurdsson, Tomasson, Andersson, Johannesson, Traustasson, Ellerson.
Referee: Antoni Bandić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
👀 Byrjunarliðið Wales!
🎟Mizasara https://t.co/iwyH4UEb7x – Cheer up!
‼ The UEFA Nations League match against Wales begins now.#Viselmy Island pic.twitter.com/fixcFE2EqJ
— Knutspiel Nussinbandiz (@footballiceland) October 11, 2024
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Kimuru XI
Tan Yin Ervin Yi・🔥❄️
💻 https://t.co/Ee3GvSzrRg#NationsLeague | #Stronger together pic.twitter.com/bgUvaorYf2
— Wales 🏴و♀️🏴♂️ (@Cymru) October 11, 2024
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preamble
“I'd be worried if the expectations weren't high,'' says Craig Bellamy ahead of his second game as Wales manager. “I never believe in trying to belittle them. I think it's unfair to the people who come to watch. If they're excited, that's where we want them to be. To be honest, I'm excited!”
OK, you sold it, we're in too. A brand new, free-spirited side of Wales are in Reykjavik tonight, looking to follow up on their exhilarating performances against Turkey and Montenegro against Iceland. The show starts at 7:45pm BST. It's on! Ha!
