By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 10, 2022) US Soccer Players – A few hours before Gregg Berhalter’s World Cup roster unveiling in Brooklyn, the USMNT’s opening opponents in group B released theirs in a very different setting. Wales manager Rob Page returned to his hometown to announce his squad at the Tylorstown Welfare Hall, one of the surviving examples of the community centers that served as libraries and gathering places across the mountainous nation during its mining heyday in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The locale was also a callback to the Dragons’ distant past. This year marks their first World Cup trip since 1958. That team’s manager, Jimmy Murphy, hailed from a nearby town in south Wales and Page made sure to visit Murphy’s old home as part of Wednesday’s activities.
Wales’s national team would suffer through a 58-year major tournament drought after reaching the quarterfinals in Sweden under Murphy. Not just in terms of the World Cup, but European Championship appearances as well. When that streak finally ended in 2016, the joy was palpable in the small, proud country. It helped power a euphoric run to the Euro semifinals in France before falling 2-0 to eventual champions Portugal.
A core of that group remains in place as Wales aims for a similar adventure this autumn, as does its identity. This is a squad that has proved again and again it is greater than the sum of its parts. Gareth Bale is a global superstar, and several colleagues feature in top competitions like the English Premier League and Championship, Serie A, and Ligue 1. Meanwhile, others on Page’s list play in the third tier, have struggled to earn regular minutes at club level, or are fighting back from injuries.
That’s generally been of little consequence when they don the national team’s kit. Something about Wales’ locker-room culture and deep pride in representing their countrymen draws the best out regardless of what’s happening back at their clubs.
“We’ve never had that pool of players where we’ve got 40 players that are playing in the Premiership and playing week in and week out,” Page told Sky Sports on Wednesday. “We’ve never had that luxury. So what we have got now is more – at the top of the pitch, anyway, certainly, more strength in depth.”
Wales doesn’t need much possession, preferring to do most of the damage in transition and via set pieces, where Bale is a constant menace. Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of Page’s group.
Goalkeepers
Wayne Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), Danny Ward (Leicester City), Adam Davies (Sheffield United)
Hennessey holds more than 100 caps for his country and seems set to add to that total as the starter in Qatar. He hasn’t played much for Nottingham Forest lately, though, with just two appearances so far, both in the League Cup, since joining the EPL club from relegated Burnley over the summer. Ward got the nod more often in qualifying and could conceivably push for the #1 job this month.
Defenders
Ben Davies (Tottenham), Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Tom Lockyer (Luton Town), Joe Rodon (Rennes), Chris Mepham (Bournemouth), Ethan Ampadu (Spezia), Chris Gunter (AFC Wimbledon), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest), Connor Roberts (Burnley)
Quality abounds in the Welsh rearguard, which usually goes three at the back with wingbacks in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 formation. The Dragons lost just once during qualifying, at then-world-#1 Belgium, and allowed nine goals in eight group stage matches.
The center back corps is deep. Davies is a battle-tested regular with Spurs. Rodon and Ampadu, the latter of whom can also do good work at defensive midfield, were trusted mainstays in qualifying. Mepham has been a steady contributor at Bournemouth for several years, while Cabango, 22, is rising through the ranks. Williams, 21, is an attack-minded wide player whose speed and crossing can provide a real threat. Gunter is the most-capped player in Welsh history and will compete for minutes with Roberts on the other flanks.
Midfielders
Sorba Thomas (Huddersfield), Joe Allen (Swansea City), Matthew Smith (MK Dons), Dylan Levitt (Dundee United), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joe Morrell (Portsmouth), Jonny Williams (Swindon Town), Aaron Ramsey (Nice), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City)
While Wilson and Williams offer creativity and cultured left feet, two names dominate this category: Allen and Ramsey. Allen has been a rock in the middle for the Dragons for years, with a versatile skill set that’s made him a highly useful box-to-box presence. An October setback in his recuperation from a hamstring strain has put him in a race against time to be fully fit for the World Cup.
“We’re giving him every opportunity to be fit for that first game. He’s progressing as we want him to,” said Page, admitting that he views Allen as a unique case. “If he’s fit, he’s playing. He’s massive for how I play and the success we’ve had. He’s a senior lad, he’s got vast amounts of experience playing tournament football as well, so he knows the game inside out and that’s invaluable. That’s why I’m throwing everything at it.”
Ramsey is one of the best-known Welsh players of his era thanks to his stints at Arsenal and Juventus. The attacking midfielder’s world-class talent has been complicated by a raft of injuries over the years. A hamstring issue kept him out of the national team’s last gathering in September, but he’s back in the lineup for Nice.
Forwards
Gareth Bale (LAFC), Kieffer Moore (Bournemouth), Mark Harris (Cardiff City), Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest), Dan James (Fulham)
Johnson, 21, is one of the more intriguing young strikers in the Premier League. James was once a golden prospect at Manchester United. Moore is a towering 6’5″ target man who offers a potent Plan B. Bale grabs the spotlight here thanks to his illustrious track record and status as a talisman for the entire program.
The former Real Madrid man has scored a litany of big goals over the years, inspiring the nation and his current and future teammates along the way. He’s the face of the franchise, to borrow a North American sports term. USMNT fans need only look back to last weekend’s MLS Cup final to be reminded of how little time on the pitch he needs to be impactful.
With 370 total minutes played since arriving at LAFC over the summer, the big question is how much his body will allow in Qatar. Mindful of how much this tournament means to the veteran, Wales is willing to take that chance.
“I’m not really bothered how fit Gareth Bale is,” Page said on Wednesday. “He’s come off the back of scoring a really important goal for LA, he’s back in the country and he’s fit.”
Charles Boehm is a Washington, DC-based writer and the editor of The Soccer Wire. Contact him at:cboehm@thesoccerwire.com. Follow him on Twitter at:http://twitter.com/cboehm.
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Photo by Nashville SC
