James peaks for Wales on night of joyful chaos
In the desperate search for a goal, Wales turned to their giant target man of a striker to provide an aerial threat in the box. As it turned out, though, it was not the 6ft 5in Kieffer Moore who made the difference. Instead it was comparatively puny Daniel James, all 5ft 7in of him, who produced the leap of his life on another night to savour for Welsh football.
It was the sort of headed goal one might expect from Moore, or from Gareth Bale, or indeed from any of the Wales centre-backs.
Certainly not from James, anyway, but there is clearly some spring to go with the winger’s speed. “We worked on that all week,” joked caretaker manager Robert Page. “What a header.”
There were just nine minutes remaining when James took off towards the Cardiff sky, and the first headed goal of his career ultimately turned out to be the winner. It could be a crucial winner, too, with Wales claiming three precious points against a Czech Republic side who are seen to be their main rivals in this World Cup qualifying group.
On a feisty night in Cardiff, in which both teams had players dismissed for soft red cards, James was far from the only hero for Wales. They were also indebted to James Lawrence and Joe Rodon, who produced two of the finest goal-saving challenges you will see all season.
A bit of luck, a moment of quality and a lot of heart: it is a familiar formula for Wales. They have now lost just one of their past 16 home matches in qualifiers, and have won five consecutive competitive home games for the first time since March 1993.
With Belgium also in their qualifying group, the expectation has always been that these two teams would be battling for second place.
This was, therefore, a victory that could prove vital for Wales and for Page, who is doing such a fine job in the absence of Ryan Giggs. “I’ve got absolute pride in the performance,” said Page. “Sometimes you have to find a way to win.”
It was Page’s instruction to James, telling him to switch wings with Bale, that led to the goal. “A massive result,” said James. “Huge. After the loss in the first game [3-1 away to Belgium] we knew we needed to pick our heads up.”
Bale described the match as “chaotic” and you could see what he meant.
A contentious red card for Czech Republic striker Patrik Schick changed the dynamic of the second half, although it was not until Connor Roberts had also been sent off that Wales scored.
The Czech Republic players did not join the home side in taking the knee before kick-off, instead saying they would take a “neutral apolitical stance” by pointing at the “respect” logo on their shirts.
Their team featured Ondrej Kudela, who has been accused of racially abusing Rangers player Glen Kamara. Slavia Prague, Kudela’s club, have rejected the allegations.
The visitors were the better side for most of the first half, although Wales had the best chance when Bale’s volley was saved by Tomas Vaclik. Schick’s red card, for thrusting an arm into the face of Roberts, then raised the Welsh belief but they still needed Lawrence to slide in, from nowhere, to deny Lukas Provod.
Roberts had gone down dramatically for the red card and he was soon a victim of the same trick by Tomas Soucek, the West Ham midfielder. His arm was raised, but the decision was just as questionable as the one which resulted in Schick’s dismissal.
Ten against 10, the home side went for it. Bale crossed, James jumped, the home side led. But the visitors battled hard, prompting Rodon into a sensational goal-line block at the end.
“That was a goal for him,” said James, happy to share the praise on another night of promise for this developing Wales team.
Wales (3-4-3) Ward 6; Mepham 6 (Moore 56), Rodon 7, J Lawrence 7; C Roberts 5, Morrell 6, Ampadu 6, N Williams 7; Bale 7, Wilson 6 (J Williams 76), James 6. Booked J Lawrence. Sent off Roberts.
Czech Republic (4-2-3-1) Vaclik 7; Coufal 7 (Vydra 87), Kudela 6 (Barak 87), Celustka 6, Boril 5; Holes 5 (Krmencik 53), Soucek 6; Provod 6 (Kaderabek 82), Darida 6, Jankto 7 (Masopust 82); Schick 5.
Booked Jankto. Sent off Schick.
Referee Ovidiu Alin Hategan (Romania).