Wales' Jordan James scores Wales to important World Cup victory versus Liechtenstein.
Wales earned a narrow 1-0 victory against less-fancied opponents Liechtenstein to maintain their aspirations of World Cup qualification.
The young midfielder claimed his debut goal for the national team from close range after Liechtenstein’s assorted collection of full-time players, office workers and students had held out for more than 60 minutes. James ran off in elation with his obvious relief shared by the 3,000 Wales followers packed into most sections of the venue in Vaduz.
Soon afterwards, however, James was booked and a further late caution for his midfield partner resulted in the pair are unavailable for the upcoming decisive game with North Macedonia through suspension.
The home venue fixture is a encounter Wales must win to move above their rivals and guarantee a better draw in the final round in next spring.
Craig Bellamy had an unusual vantage point from the sidelines, the Wales manager undertaking a technical area prohibition after receiving a additional booking in the qualifiers previously.
Bellamy’s deputy Cremers stood in in the coaching zone and multiple first-teamers – Jordan James, Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Williams – were at risk of suspension from sitting out the concluding match. Both James and Ampadu came unstuck in moments that could really hurt their team.
Liechtenstein, ranked 206 out of 210 teams in world football, had been goalless in their winless run and conceded 23 times at an average of nearly four per game.
Wales unsurprisingly had most of the play as their hosts lay in a deep defensive line and defended in numbers.
Their opponent's target remained unthreatened until Broadhead high press caused a mistake and James saw his shot from the edge of the box parried by Benjamin Büchel.
The same combination crafted an opportunity, James finding Broadhead this time with a accurate delivery behind the defence.
The attacker's superb touch evaded Büchel but the Wrexham striker failed to finish from a difficult angle.
The Welsh team felt they broken the deadlock after 26 minutes when James headed a high Sorba Thomas set-piece back into a crowded six-yard box.
The Liechtenstein keeper was under pressure by Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his feeble attempt landed with Nathan Broadhead who scored decisively. But Welsh celebrations were cut short when the official was instructed to the pitchside monitor and ruled that one or more of the Wales central defenders was in an offside from James’s initial touch.
The visitors increased the pressure after the interval and Thomas provided a cross to the far post which Daniel James rattled against the crossbar.
Neco Williams then directed his header off target from within the goal area as it started to seem like a difficult match for the Welsh side.
Yet, with the game having ticked into its second half, Williams played a intelligent assist for Daniel James to run past the opposition backline.
James cut out Büchel with a excellent pass across the face of goal, and his teammate Jordan James had the simple task of easing Wales' tension.
