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Key occasions
35 min: Craig Bellamy isn’t so content material now. Plenty of shouting and gesticulating. That equaliser, which got here out of nowhere, has shocked the Cardiff Metropolis Stadium.
33 min: Again and to the left. The JFK pen. The place had been you when Askhat Tagybergen shot?
GOAL! Wales 1-1 Kazakhstan (Tagybergen 32 pen)
Nope, the choice stands. The captain Tagybergen to take. He hits a poor effort excellent of centre. The ball hits the diving Darlow’s boot … however as a substitute of stopping, spins again and to the left, over the road and into the web.
31 min: Craig Bellamy smiles incredulously, and captain Ben Davies tells the referee how he sees it. An extended VAR test. However Roberts’ arm was outstretched and this absolutely received’t be overturned.
Penalty for Kazakhstan!
29 min: Chesnokov, on the left-hand nook of the Welsh field, crosses. The ball hits the arm of the close by Roberts, who was within the strategy of turning his again on play. The ref factors instantly to the spot.
27 min: … then up the opposite finish, it may have been 2-0, James sending Brooks free down the proper. Brooks appears for Thomas, on their lonesome down the inside-left channel, however makes a multitude of the straightforward crossfield cross and the prospect is gone.
26 min: Samorodov advances down the left and crosses lengthy, with Chesnokov lurking on the far stick. Williams does exceptionally effectively to move clear beneath strain. Had he not intervened, that would have been the equaliser.
25 min: All a bit scrappy. Craig Bellamy appears content material sufficient.
23 min: Wales are in full management of this now, having weathered that early … effectively, not a storm precisely, however a great previous blow. They’ve loved 75 p.c of possession thus far.
21 min: There was a little bit of contact between Alip and James, thoughts. The circus-entertainer nature of the ahead flip, plus the actual fact any foul may need been simply exterior the field anyway, may effectively have influenced the referee into siding with Kazakhstan over that one.
19 min: James tries to squeeze his approach into the Kazakh penalty field from the proper wing. He flips over spectacularly, with Alip sliding throughout him, however whereas the group scream for a spot kick, neither participant nor team-mates make an excessive amount of of a fuss about it.
18 min: Brooks executes a deft spin and flick to ship Alip off for a replica of the Echo. Pretty talent … however then, with acres opening up in entrance of him, a thunderingly heavy contact results in his delivery possession instantly. From the chic to the ridiculous in a cut up second.
16 min: Chesnokov goes down clutching his face, having taken an unintentional arm from Williams. He complains when he finally will get up, however the referee’s not . We play on.
14 min: Thomas works his approach down the left once more, reaching the byline and reducing again for Johnson, whose first-time sidefoot is deflected extensive left by Marochkin. The nook’s labored again up the road then swung in, Rodon pinging a header meant for the top-right nook excessive and extensive.
13 min: Wales, fuelled by the objective, decide up the velocity. Thomas curls in from the left. James tries to hook the dropping ball goalwards however it’s simple pickings for Zarutskiy.
11 min: That was as scrappy because it comes, however Wales received’t care. It needs to be stated: that got here towards the early run of play. It ought to settle Welsh nerves.
GOAL! Wales 1-0 Kazakhstan (James 9)
Roberts up the opposite finish this time. He feeds James down the proper, and Wales win their first nook of the night. Brooks, Roberts and James over-elaborate, and the guests intercept. However Tagybergen takes a free contact simply to the proper of the six-yard field. Cullen pokes the free ball to James, who shoots straight at Zarutskiy … just for the ball to take an enormous deflection to wrong-foot the keeper and fly in.
7 min: Kazakhstan are seeing extra of the ball. They probe down each flanks, Zhaksylykov on the proper, Vorogovskiy out left. Roberts does effectively to finish the interval of away possession by intercepting and blasting the ball off an opponent for a objective kick.
5 min: Tagybergen sends the nook in from the proper. Cullen clears. Chesnokov dribbles down the proper however falls over his personal toes. That is an unexpectedly vivid begin from the guests.
4 min: Yep, that appears to be the case, as a result of Samorodov zips down the left, enters the Welsh field, and takes a shot that deflects out for the primary nook of the sport.
2 min: Not lengthy after the restart, Zhaksylykov chases a protracted cross down the left. The ball flies out for a throw. A few early indicators that Kazakhstan don’t intend to spend all the night sitting again?
Kazakhstan get the ball rolling. Tapalov hares down the proper however Williams batters the ball off him and it pings out for a objective kick.
A light-weight present dances within the air above the Cardiff Metropolis Stadium, then the groups emerge from the tunnel. Wales in crimson, Kazakhstan in second-choice blue. We’ll be off as soon as the nationwide hymns and arias have been sung.
Craig Bellamy speaks to BBC Cymru Wales. “We have now put the staff with the perfect profile out … we’re going to should be affected person … we’ll have to attend and see … the plan by way of the week was making an attempt to work on each answer it doesn’t matter what … it’s been nice as a supervisor thus far … it’s been actually particular … hopefully we’ll be capable of comply with what’s been taking place with Wales for plenty of years with a optimistic consequence tonight.”
We would possibly see one in all Chelsea’s newest signings in motion tonight. Dastan Satpayev, a 16-year-old striker/left-winger who at the moment performs for Kazakhstan champions Kairat, turned his nation’s youngest-ever full worldwide final week, approaching as a sub in a pleasant towards Curacao. He’s signed a five-year cope with Chelsea and can arrive at Stamford Bridge in August 2026 when he turns 18. He’s on the bench this night.
Pre-match postbag. “Membership soccer is nice however you possibly can’t beat the goddamn enjoyable of the true factor. Our journey to observe Tuesday’s Macedonia-Wales qualifier in Skopje practically fell foul of yesterday’s little hiccup at Heathrow. To not fear: it ended up with a taxi to Manchester Airport and an unscheduled late-night kebab in Istanbul. One other flight and a rent automobile later, we now discover ourselves in an unlimited on line casino on the Kosovo-Macedonia border. Bucket hats would possibly break the gown code however issues are positively wanting up as we’re sitting at an overstaffed bar the place the drinks are free. So sort of a on line casino to offer free beer. September’s journey to the Kazakhstan sport shall be plain crusing in comparison with this” – Alan Pugh
“Nice to see so many Leeds names on the Wales staff sheet. What does this say about each/both? Dreaming of greatness whereas tripping over their very own bootlaces? Clearly Wales shall be hoping for a win, clear sheet and bonus level (errr, sorry, mistaken sport). Now that their rugby is formally [word redacted by Family Website Editor], will Craig’s boyos be the large new hope? It’s a humorous previous sport” – Jeremy Boyce
As we speak’s different sport in Group J has already completed. North Macedonia have overwhelmed Liechtenstein 3-0 in Vaduz, with targets from Aleksandar Trajkovski, Visar Musliu and Bojan Miovski. Wales journey to North Macedonia on Tuesday, whereas Kazakhstan go to Liechtenstein. The fifth nation on this group, Belgium, don’t start their marketing campaign till June.
Wales make 4 adjustments to the staff that began the 4-1 Nations League victory over Iceland. Karl Darlow replaces Danny Ward in objective, whereas David Brooks, Connor Roberts and Sorba Thomas take the locations of the benched Ben Cabango and Mark Harris and the injured Harry Wilson.
The groups
Wales: Darlow, Roberts, Rodon, Ben Davies, Williams, Sheehan, Thomas, Daniel James, Brooks, Johnson, Cullen.
Subs: Ward, Adam Davies, Mepham, Cabango, Allen, Lawrence, Matondo, Moore, Dasilva, Jordan James, Mark Harris, Broadhead.
Kazakhstan: Zarutskiy, Tapalov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy, Chesnokov, Tagybergen, Muzhikov, Samorodov, Zhaksylykov.
Subs: Pokatilov, Seisen, Sultanbek Astanov, Zhumakhanov, Zhaksybaev, Kenzhebek, Nauryzbek Zhagorov, Zhukov, Aymbetov, Satpaev, Orazov, Mukhamed.
Referee: Donatas Rumsas (Lithuania).
Preamble
One of many top-30 sides on the planet host the staff ranked a hundred and tenth, a collective which has misplaced ten of its final 11 aggressive matches, drawing the opposite 0-0. On paper, that is as shut because it will get to a surefire factor, and thus a tough promote. However then soccer is soccer, so that you by no means know … and in any case, Wales proper now are simply a lot goddamn enjoyable. For instance, has a goalless draw ever been as satisfying as this?
Not too typically, is the proper reply to that one. So let’s cool down for some extra top-drawer Saturday-night mild leisure courtesy of Bruce Forsyth Craig Bellamy and the lads. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!