San Marino 1 Wales 2: Earnshaw returns with a goal but Wales fail to convince
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Wales manager John Toshack admitted he was praying for the final whistle as his team hung onto a 2-1 victory over San Marino. Toshack had seen his heavily-criticised side dominate the first half of last night's Euro 2008 qualifier with goals from Robert Earnshaw and Joe Ledley.
But the Group D minnows hit back with a second-half strike from Andy Selva, which gave the Welsh contingent a nerve-wracking final few minutes.
The Wales manager said: "I still feel we have a lot of work and talking to do if we are going to change some players' attitude. I still want to push younger players in. Some of these lads have had a rollicking, but these days you don't seem to be able to do that to young players. They think they know it all."
Toshack looked drained after a week of soul searching and recriminations in which he doubted his own position. He added: "I hope the next 10 days we are together will be better than this one was. OK, so this was a win, but that's all.
"We set about the first half in the right way, scored two and could have had more. But in the second period we had to make a change because David Vaughan was struggling with a groin injury and we didn't really get started after that.
"We gave away a needless free-kick for them to score. From then on, we were biting our nails and calling for the whistle. That was a pity because it should not have been that close. But it was difficult against a defence that did not come out. But to concede like that, with us not marking properly and generally being sloppy disappointed me."
* Kyle Lafferty scored a 72nd-minute equalizer to give Northern Ireland a 1-1 draw with Sweden and keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 alive. Lafferty curled a right-foot drive from inside the box into the top left corner to cancel out Olof Mellberg's opener.
Wales (4-4-2): Price (Derby County) ; Bale (Tottenham), Eardley (Oldham Athletic), Gabbidon (West Ham), Nyatanga (Barnsley); Robinson (Toronto), Vaughan (Real Sociedad), Davies (Fulham), Ledley (Cardiff City); Earnshaw (Derby), Bellamy (West Ham). Substitutes used: Ricketts (Hull City, for Vaughan, 62).
San Marino (4-4-2): Simoncino; Valentini, Vannucci, Albani, Della Valle; Bonifazi, Simoncini, Mucciloi, Andreini; De Luigi, Selva. Substitutes used: Bonini (62, for Bonifazi), Bugli (76, for Vannucci), Vitaioli (80, for De Luigi).
Referee: A Zammit (Malta)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments