Wales may face grounds for concern in Belgrade

IF the type of challenge facing Wales’ World Cup hopefuls hasn’t dawned on them yet, it will become all too clear in the space of a deafening, daunting three minutes this Sunday.

Because the road to Russia includes a nerve-shredding walk designed to ram home the fact Chris Coleman’s men are as far away from home comforts as they can get.

Rather than the clinical, branded walkway that paved the way from the dressing rooms to the polished arenas of France 12 months ago, what awaits Wales in Serbia is a sensory reminder that they are in for a battle in Belgrade.

Because an anticipated record crowd at a stadium known for its intimidation will make sure of it; supporters whipped up by Serbia stars claiming this is the biggest match in their recent history and that victory will mean qualification for them and elimination for their visitors.

On a weekend where boiling Balkan temperatures are expected to hit 31 degrees in the Serbian capital, the heat is very much on for a Wales team whose World Cup hopes are on the line.

Coleman will make sure his men are aware of what to expect when they arrive in Serbia on Saturday, although it is not until Sunday that Aaron Ramsey et al will be able to take in what lies in store for them at the Red Star Stadium – or, to give it its recent official title, the Rajko Mitic Stadium.

As they did throughout the successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Wales’ management has opted not to train at the 55,000-capacity setting for Sunday’s game at the home of the Group D leaders.

Instead, they will squeeze in an extra session at their Vale base before flying and – captain and manager with media duties aside – will head straight to their Belgrade hotels for vital final recovery.

So it is not until the hours before Sunday evening’s kick-off that Wales’ squad – minus James Collins, Andy King, Neil Taylor and, of course, Gareth Bale – will get a glimpse of the graffiti scrawled walls that will welcome them.

Red Star Stadium was once a grander place, holding 110,000 after it was rebuilt in the early 1960s and earning it the local moniker of the Marakana, an ode to the iconic Brazilian ground.

It stands out in its surroundings of Dedinje, considered one of the most affluent districts of Belgrade, sunken into the hillside of the leafy area, its aged concrete walls covered in slogans left by local Red Star ultras.

The fans’ colourful – sometimes scrawled, sometimes creative – daubings serve as messages of support, of political statements but also of warnings to the opponents in an arena often credited as one of the most intimidating in the world.

They are not restricted to the exterior. Instead, they will accompany Wales’ players every step on their long march from changing room and the last words of their manager to the bowl of noise that awaits them.

Coleman – along with team performance psychologist Ian Mitchell – will ready his players having already visited the ground as part of the preparations for this game, one where Wales by any means necessary need to keep pace with the group leaders. They are four points ahead going into the weekend, as are Ireland who take on Austria (in fourth, level on seven with Wales) earlier in the day.

“I went before the Ireland game,” Coleman says. “The changing rooms are actually outside the ground so there is a three-minute walk for us to get to the pitch. There are two huge tunnels and you come out underneath by the goals and the stadium in front of you is like a bowl. It is a stadium that’s aged, but I think, if it’s full, it will be an incredible atmosphere.” It could well be close to full. “This is the most important match in the recent history of Serbian football, and I’ve already booked about 100 tickets for my friends,” said Chelsea and Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic this week. “I hope it will be close to 50,000 spectators.”

There is every chance, although it might well be closer to 40,000 with around 2,000 travelling from Wales. The FAW opted not to take up greater numbers because of concerns of safety – primarily with the single exit and the steepness of the section in which the Red Wall will position itself.

“I was told before I got there it wasn’t the safest, but the area they showed me looked OK,” adds Coleman. “There was an area behind one goal, the opposite end to our fans, that was damaged, the seats were damaged, but that’s not where our fans are, or so I was told. They’re down the other end of the pitch.”

The Serbian ultras are likely to be at the end initially seen by Coleman, fans who sense that the difficulties faced by their national side are coming to an end.

In a story of attendances that Wales can identify with, crowd numbers had fallen before the recent side’s resurgence and hopes of qualifying for a first tournament since the 2010 World Cup have seen a steady increase.

Having started the campaign with 11,000 for the visit of the Republic of Ireland, Sunday is on course to be Serbia’s biggest home crowd in a decade.

This is not new for Wales. It is not new for a side of enough international experience to shut out the noise, put aside the reminders of Novi Sad that will come to a Serbian return five years on from that 6-1 horror.

Serbia’s players have spoken of that night this week, quick to remind that this is a different Wales team; maybe not so much in personnel, but certainly in performances and mental strength.

But that won’t stop them trying as they take that long walk with the din booming through those gratified tunnels.

“We’d look at the Partizan players in the tunnel and ask them how scared they were,” ex-Serbia and Red Star Dragan Mladenovic has said of past experiences in the tunnel. The man who scored the only goal in Wales’ last trip to this ground, a pivotal 1-0 defeat in the Euro 2004 campaign, added: “They’d laugh at us and pretend they were OK.

“Then we’d see the colour drain from their faces as they walked from the tunnel into the dragon’s lair in front of our fans. They’d run quickly towards their own.”

Intimidation will only last if Wales do not stand up. If they do, that long walk back to the changing rooms can be a victory march.