Wales suffer shock defeat

Wales suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Albania last night as Ryan Giggs’ first year in charge ended on a low note in Elbasan.

Albania are ranked 42 spots below 18th-placed Wales in the Fifa rankings, had scored only twice in their previous eight games and were fresh from losing 4-0 at home to Scotland in the Nations League.

But Bekim Balaj’s 59th-minute penalty condemned Wales to a shock friendly international defeat and damaged confidence ahead of the start of the 2020 European Championship qualifiers in March.

Not even the presence of Gareth Bale, sent on as a substitute on the hour mark and booked late on, could prevent a fifth loss in nine games under Giggs.

The result tarnished what was a historic evening with Chris Gunter becoming Wales’ most-capped player and wearing the armband to mark the occasion.

Gunter’s 93rd cap took him past former goalkeeper Neville Southall.

Late substitute Matteo Politano’s stoppage-time goal clinched Italy a 1-0 win in their friendly against the United States in Belgium.

The Inter Milan winger, on loan from Sassuolo, struck in the fourth minute of added time after stepping off the bench in the 87th minute.

Italy failed to qualify for the Nations League finals at the weekend after a 0-0 stalemate against Portugal and Roberto Mancini’s new-look side appeared to have drawn another blank.

But Politano broke the deadlock with the last kick of the game to condemn the USA to their fifth defeat of the year.

Olivier Giroud’s second half penalty clinched France a 1-0 friendly win against Uruguay in Paris.

Chelsea striker Giroud converted a 52nd minute spot-kick to give the world champions a lift after their failure to qualify for the Nations League Finals.

But Les Bleus’ win came at a price as Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe was forced out of the action with a shoulder injury.