Wales consider going on the road

Feb 29 2008 by Paul Abbandonato, Western Mail

WELSH soccer bosses have agreed to play their first three home World Cup fixtures at the Millennium Stadium, but have left the option open to switch the big games against Germany and Russia to a smaller venue.

The FAW move comes after John Toshack and his players mooted the idea of meeting Wales’ main World Cup foes at a smaller ground, rather than the swanky 74,000-seater Cardiff venue.

The Wales manager believes games at a less palatial and tighter Swansea or Wrexham venue, in front of a capacity crowd, would make the Germans and Russians less comfortable.

He was backed in his assertion by Simon Davies and Jason Koumas, who have each called for key qualifiers to be moved to a ground with a better atmosphere.

The FAW’s ruling council agreed on Wednesday to stage the first three World Cup qualifiers in the race for South Africa 2010 at the Millennium ... against Azerbaijan (Sept 6), Liechtenstein (Oct 11) and Finland (March 28, 2009).

The decision was made early, the Western Mail has been told, because the Welsh Rugby Union have had other requests from outside bodies to use the Millennium Stadium on those dates.

However, the huge clash with the Germans falls just four days after the Finland game, yet the FAW have still not committed to the idea of taking that qualifier to Cardiff. It appears, at Toshack’s behest, the FAW are keeping their options open on the venue for the German match, as well as the final home game with Russia in September 2009.

Wales could yet face the Germans and Russians at Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, or even Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.

That would cause huge controversy, because if Craig Bellamy and his team are doing well, tens of thousands of supporters would be unable to get tickets for these games.

The capacity at the Liberty Stadium would be reduced to 15,000, once crowd segregation, complimentary and other tickets are taken into account.

The Racecourse capacity would be even lower, although Wales historically have an excellent results record in Wrexham and it has been regarded as our lucky ground.

The counter argument to the FAW not being able to meet fans’ needs for those games is that Wales believe they will have a better chance of qualifying by playing the big guns away from the Millennium Stadium.

And by reaching South Africa 2010, it would give many thousands of Welsh supporters their first opportunity to see their team in a major finals.

On the last two occasions the Germans and Russians came to the Millennium Stadium, they strutted around the place as if they owned it. The Germans comfortably beat Toshack’s Wales 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier last September and hardly broke sweat as Bastian Schweinsteiger ran the show.

Back in November 2003, the Russians defeated Mark Hughes’ side 1-0 in a Euro 2004 play-off game.

More than 70,000 Welsh fans packed inside the ground that night and created a fervent atmosphere, but Russia were not fazed and looked to be rarely in trouble as they won 1-0.

Toshack believes that Germany and Russia will have no problems in coming to the Millennium Stadium.

But he reckons they would be far less comfortable at a smaller ground, where the fans are almost on top of them and 20,000 people produce an intimidating and partisan crescendo of noise.

Toshack’s argument to senior FAW figures has been that the German and Russian stars are accustomed to playing at the biggest venues, for both club and country, and as such the Millennium Stadium is just another ground which fits into the profile of what they’re used to experiencing.

Going to a smaller stadium, Toshack maintains, would make it more awkward and perhaps more intimidating for the visitors and potentially give his own team a psychological edge.

Toshack and the FAW also point out the Germans and Russians don’t tell Wales the venues they are playing on their travels at until 60 days before the date of the game.

This is entirely within Fifa rules, and it looks like Wales are following suit by keeping their own options open.

Ticket prices for the first three games have still to be agreed upon.