That trip to Montenegro will live long in the memory for Craig Bellamy and the hundreds of Wales fans who travelled with him: in Niksic, in a tiny stadium with a running track and just two stands, one of which is completely exposed to the elements, Bellamy recorded his first victory as Wales manager.
In dirty conditions, Wales got going quickly, Kieffer Moore scoring inside 38 seconds and Harry Wilson adding a superb second with an improvised effort less than two minutes later. The pitch was littered with puddles, but Driton Kamai's final goal in the 73rd minute did not ruin the atmosphere. The victory was not without its problems, however.
On the eve of the match, Bellamy lit up as he recalled fond memories of Robert Prosinecki, who took over as Montenegro manager in February. Prosinecki was an unconventional player known for smoking cigarettes at half-time. The 1991 European Cup winner with Red Star Belgrade and former Real Madrid player joined Portsmouth late in his career, but former teammates remember him smoking in a toilet cubicle in the dressing room. “He wasn't submissive… that's the type of profile we always like,” said Bellamy, who is certainly one of them. Bellamy was happy to point out the Yugoslavia U-21 team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, naming Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker.
The match was due to be played in Podgorica but was moved to Niksic two weeks ago after UEFA raised concerns about the pitch. The pitch, which usually hosts Montenegro's U-21 matches, was hit by a day of biblical rain that caused a local power outage and left Wales supporters with tricolour bucket hats offering protection from the constant downpour.
Bellamy is not one to do things by halves, so he was serious when he insisted before kick-off that the rain-soaked ground, with thunder and lightning in the background, was in “really good conditions.” And he might not have wanted to make excuses if that wasn't the case. Within the first two-and-a-half minutes, his pre-match assessment was clear. Moore had a first-touch shot moments after Wilson's pass rolled into his path like a pinball, and Wilson doubled Wales' lead with a brilliant, curling left-footed shot from about 25 yards.
It was hard not to feel that the Montenegrin players were touched by the emotional minute-long ovation in honour of former goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, who died in June aged 26. Tears were in some players' eyes in honour of the former Millwall goalkeeper, who died whilst on holiday in Budva. Despite a poor start the home side rallied and could have made it 3-0 just after the half-hour had Neco Williams had a better touch, helping to fuel Wales' dream start, but the visitors were lucky not to concede at half-time.
Nikola Krstovic fired a shot wide after latching onto a Stefan Mugosa cross in the eighth minute. Wales also fended off a strong penalty appeal after Ben Davies' header from a Stefan Jovetic cross struck the right arm. Davies, captaining Wales to the bench as one of five players along with Aaron Ramsey, produced a superb goal-line clearance after a double save from Karl Darlow and joined the others in denying the goal. And yes, former Manchester City striker Jovetic hit the crossbar with a shot from his own half.
His shot from about 50 yards hit the bar and missed a standing Darlow, avoiding the humiliation of being lobbed at on his Wales debut. At 33, the Leeds goalkeeper became the oldest player to make his debut for Wales. Meanwhile, Jovetic has been without a club since winning the Europa Conference League with Olympiacos last season. Luis Kumas was sent off at half-time in his first competitive international appearance after being hit by Milos Brnović.
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The pitch had withstood the storm all day but it got worse and by half-time it looked like a danger awareness course. Both players' shirts, shorts, socks and more were soaked. Connor Roberts was forced to leave the game before the break with an apparent shoulder injury and was replaced by Brennan Johnson.
In the 66th minute, Moore couldn't make it 3-0 when he shot from three yards out after Davies had deflected the ball wide inside the penalty area. Moore slid in to scoop the ball up from close range but, frustrated, hit the post. Minutes earlier, Williams had another good chance after the ball dropped inside the penalty area. By then, Wales were starting to slip and Bellamy brought on Jordan James, who moved to Rennes from boyhood club Birmingham this summer, to replace Swansea's Ollie Cooper, perhaps to give him a greater sense of control.
Montenegro still found it too easy to open holes in the Welsh defence – Vladimir Jovovic hit the post from distance and then Darlow made a great save to deny Jovetic – but Montenegro were eventually rewarded when a slack defensive play allowed Krstovic to cross for Kamai to smash in from close range.
