Craig Bellamy’s start as Wales manager excites fans

[Pelican Press 0]

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Craig Bellamy’s start as Wales manager excites fans

Of course, everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face.

“An hour leading up to it I was like: ‘What have I done, what have I got myself into? I had such a good life before this!’” Bellamy joked afterwards when asked whether he allowed himself to enjoy the moment, as he had promised himself.

Most fans had not seen those last moments before stepping back into the international arena, the 78-cap international emerging out of the tunnel and into management without any tannoy welcome.

In jeans, jacket, t-shirt and box-fresh trainers, a date night with destiny began with the anthem he knew would spark memories and emotions. He appeared almost as pained as he was proud as he sang, lowering his head at one point.

A smile to meet Turkey’s Italian manager Vincenzo Montella and then the nervous energy, released only partly by pacing around the technical area waiting for kick-off, when once he would have sprinted on to the field.

Restricted by white lines, his voice still made it on to the field while he demanded angles and illustrated instructions with his hands as if conducting rush-hour traffic.

He would pause to offer applause as Wales pressed high and hard, or to take advice from assistant coach Piet Cremers during breaks in play, but the involvement was constant. It was less a case of kicking every ball, more chasing every ball down.

It took 20 minutes before he briefly sat down, far sooner than the first archetypal throwing down of his hands once seen in the shirts of Newcastle, Liverpool and others.

And yet, more notably, he was the calmest in the stadium when the likes of Ramsey went close, allowing coaching staff to react first when the game became needled, and crouched down rather than exploded when the game frustrated.

In many ways, you could have pictured Bellamy being in the centre of things as it became heated, but he stayed well clear when Montella’s assistant Daniele Russo was loudly protesting decisions and found himself booked.

That is not to say the fourth official did not have plenty of considered opinion from Bellamy, but only as much as some of his players.

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