Wales found out their pathway if they want to travel to the USA/Mexico/Canada World Cup starting in June next year. What’s the abbreviations there ? CUM World Cup ? MUC ? It can’t even be North America with Mexico being in the south.
A poke in the thingy there.
So here it all is, the draw was made yesterday.
Play-off Path A:
Semi-final: Italy vs Northern Ireland
Semi-final: Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Final: Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy/Northern Ireland
Play-off Path B:
Semi-final: Ukraine vs Sweden
Semi-final: Poland vs Albania
Final: Ukraine/Sweden vs Poland/Albania
Play-off Path C:
Semi-final: Turkey vs Romania
Semi-final: Slovakia vs Kosovo
Final: Slovakia/Kosovo vs Turkey/Romania
Play-off Path D:
Semi-final: Denmark vs North Macedonia
Semi-final: Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland
Final: Czech Republic/Republic of Ireland vs Denmark/North Macedonia
If Wales do progress against Bosnia and Herzegovina at home, and that’s no guarantee with their track record against them, they have never beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina then it’s Italy or Northern Ireland in the final play off, again a home draw. No other permutation now matters if you want Wales in next years World Cup.
Very much "in the dragons’ den " for those two teams. And on that subject we have received news from Paul Abbandonato regards his new book, details and how to buy are below. We have read the book and I personally can wholly recommend a purchase. It’s littered with hard to put down writing which comes from the heart and mind of a life in Welsh football.
We spoke to Paul about this incredible journey through a lifetime of Welsh sports journalism
⚽️ 1. What inspired you to contémplate writing a book with this topic?
Many people have asked me to write a book about my years of covering Welsh football because the whole story is so extraordinary, but the timing was never quite right. However, I couldn’t just keep putting it off and one of the reasons I opted to end my 34-year association with Media Wales and go freelance was to take on this project.
I initially planned to also write about the club scene (Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham), but quickly realised there was already WAY too much incredible material to cram in about Wales, so I just focussed on the national team. It really is a remarkable football story like no other - at the time I just went with the flow in my job, week by week, story by story. It’s only by standing back three decades on and packaging it all together that I fully realise it’s a truly unique tale. Think of what happened with Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed as managers and the impossible position FAW bosses were twice placed in. Wales went from biggest under-achievers in world football for decades, given the stellar talent available, to biggest over-achievers with that Euro 2016 magic carpet ride. The book covers off the devastating lows and exhilarating highs. They went among the worst supported countries in Europe to the very best with regular 74,000 Millennium Stadium sellouts under Mark Hughes. We have the crazy tales from the Bobby Gould years. The book details how Gareth Bale was deemed not good enough to play for Wales Schools. Another barmy, but true story. And, of course, I give personal anecdotes of my working rapport with three managers with Swansea City connections - Terry Yorath, John Toshack and Chris Coleman.
⚽️ 2. When you considered the framework what was important to you as an Author, the . or the team. Personally I do a story board that can change the whole theme as I plot it out. What do you do ?
After an initial scene-setter, where Brian Flynn is quoted as saying ‘How many volumes are you going to write Paul?’, the obvious thing to do was deal in Chapter 1 with the newsy element of what happened with Giggs and Speed. Former FAW chief Jonathan Ford speaks candidly about events and having to pick up the devastating pieces. Then it was crying out for an entire chapter on Gareth Bale, the greatest player we’ve seen pull on a Wales shirt.After that chronological order is the obvious way to go - what happened in the Yorath years, Mike Smith, Gould, Hughes, Toshack, Speed, Coleman, Giggs and through to Craig Bellamy today.
⚽️ 3. Are there any unknowns or forgotten players ? I’m certain you have included the big names and the big games, but are there some games long forgotten?
There are LOTS of unknowns - and these are the things I can write about, let alone the things I’m sworn to secrecy on!! I explain how I felt I was used a little bit by the Swans when Doug Sharpe told me Yorath, combining a full-time Vetch role with part-time Wales boss, ‘Can’t do two jobs’. The Swans had lost 11 on the trot and we splashed the front page with the chairman’s comments. Cue chaos - Terry departed within four days and wasn’t happy. Sharpey had assured me Terry knew his two jobs view, but let’s just say as soon as the story hit the papers the writing was on the wall.
I’d made the fundamental error of not letting Terry know what was going in print. We cleared the air, he didn’t hold it against me, but it was a big lesson learned. In terms of forgotten players, I detail how, with the help of Wales on Sunday readers, that was a great sports paper back in the day (agreed Paul assisted Phil Sumbler and I in our early book releases with plenty of publicity) we tried to persuade dual qualified Matt Le Tissier to throw in his lot with Wales. We ran ‘Please Play for Wales’ coupons, asking fans to sign and send in. These damn things flooded our office and armed with a massive box of them I was despatched down to Southampton to see hand to Matt. He was overwhelmed, touched by the will of the Welsh people, but politely explained he had already played a handful of minutes for England in a friendly versus Ireland and ‘it wouldn’t feel right to switch.’
A shame. He’d have been feted as a Welsh legend. He barely played for England.
⚽️ 4. What games bar the obvious ones stand out for you?
Osian Roberts goes through the Euros game by game, revealing what really happened in the dressing room. So they stand out because of that. I also address in detail the ‘Sliding Doors’ moments when Wales lost to Romania in 1993 and Russia in 2003, the closest we came to qualifying then and how instead of golden riches Wales entered the wilderness years. I will never forget beating Azerbaijan 4-0 on a sunny March afternoon in 2003 in front of a sellout Millennium Stadium crowd. That was a real high for me, 74k fans turning up for Azerbaijan, a real party atmosphere as Wales made it an unprecedented four wins out of four in trying to get to the Euros. They were on a real high and due to go to Belgrade four days on. The Serbian President was assassinated, the game was called off, and by the time Wales played out there the momentum had been lost. Suddenly, under Hughes, Wales went 10 competitive matches without a win. Typical of the terribly bad luck, and enormous rollercoaster, the book covers off..
⚽️ 5. How did the annual Wales vote for the Ballon d’Or trophy come about
FIFA asked the FAW for a Welsh journalist who could do the vote and they put my name forward.
⚽️ 6. Ryan Giggs was clearly left out of Wales squads, how did the bust up with Alex Ferguson come about ?
So I wrote a critical article about Giggsy missing too many friendlies. Sir Alex, then the most powerful man in British football, telephoned me shortly afterwards to take me to task. If it wasn’t exactly the Fergie Hairdryer treatment, let’s just say he made his disquiet known with what I had written, plus a couple of other Welsh things he was unhappy with. Having got his angst off his chest, Fergie then proceeded to go on the record to explain politely why dodgy hamstrings meant he had to pull Ryan out of games, for Manchester United as well as Wales. He felt friendly internationals ‘ didn’t matter’. Giggs cops a lot of criticism from Welsh fans, who point to fellow superstar and talisman Bale as an example of commitment. But when they each burst through the situations were entirely different. Bale was a left-back in the Championship with Southampton; Giggs was a teen wonder with Britain’s biggest club at a time when football needed a lift. He was as likely to appear on the showbiz pages as the sports section, Fergie didn’t like the hype and felt he needed to throw a protective arm around Ryan.
⚽️ The Indy : Well, do you need any more examples as to the astute writing of Paul Abbandonato ? It’s all below. Fans of Wales and of any club will love this book.
⚽️ And so we have ‘In the Dragons’ Den: The scarcely believable stories from 30 years at the sharp end of Welsh football’. It is available in good bookshops or via this link In the Dragons' Den (9781912631599) | Paul Abbandonato | Y Lolfa
You can buy it here —> In the dragons’ den