Wales tough it out for a point, but face wait for Russia reward
UNDEFEATED, unbowed – but still uncertain of whether it will all be enough. Wales again showed they will not let go of this World Cup dream as they stopped Serbia doing what most were predicting they would do in Belgrade’s heat and hostility. Wales did not buckle, they did not bow and they did not stop believing.
They even believed at one stage what no-one had dared think before this test of strength in Serbia, Aaron Ramsey’s brilliant penalty giving them a lead and an opening to a renewed bid for automatic qualification.
But, as he did in Cardiff in November, Newcastle’s Aleksander Mitrovic took it upon himself to frustrate as he levelled with 17 minutes remaining.
And it means it will not become clear whether the fight against the odds here will be rewarded on this road to Russia.
With Austria drawing in Dublin earlier in the day, it leaves things as they were in the Group D qualifying stakes; Wales remain four points shy of both Serbia and the Republic of Ireland with four games remaining, one of which is against Martin O’Neill’s side in Cardiff.
And so that pathway to Russia is uncertain.
Yet, what is undeniable is that this result should be seen for what it is. Questions were asked of this Wales team going into this game and they answered many of them emphatically.
Shorn of players – including, of course, Gareth Bale – it was asked whether others would stand up. Joe Allen and – in particular – Ramsey did that in spades.
In a hostile environment, it was asked whether Wales would be able to stand firm. They did that as one, with ease at times.
With doubts surrounding their ability to pull it off, they were asked whether they could shake them off against the group leaders. They did.
The one question they could not answer is the one now surrounding that ability to hold onto leads, ones that have been thrown away in Vienna and at home against Georgia and Serbia, and now here.
It will frustrate Coleman – especially seeing as it was such a strength of the last campaign – but he knew this was a game he could not lose. They did not and they did not deserve to for showing – in the country of that 6-1 hammering – they are indeed tough enough.
Coleman knew what his side would face. He spent the last two weeks drilling into the side the challenge they would face and the mentality they would need. There was no accident that one word repeated by several players and staff in the lead-up: resilience.
It perhaps even affected Coleman’s big selection call. If the decision to keep the three centre-backs was expected – Jazz Richards replacing the suspended Neil Taylor an easy call and one that made minimum disruption – then no-one was sure how the side would look as it coped with the loss of Bale.
In the end, Coleman called on David Edwards rather than adding Tom Lawrence to the attack, knowing that his 10 years and 38 caps-worth of international experience would have him battle-ready.
And that was what Wales were as a collective, evident from even the warm-