In addition to Wayne Hennessey’s heroic performance, an own goal from Andriy Yarmolenko helped Wales qualify for the World Cup in Qatar
Welsh qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958 was secured with a 1-0 win over brave Ukraine thanks to an own goal by Ukrainian player Andriy Yarmolenko.
During the match in Cardiff, which was played in a mood of emotion, Yermolenko’s headed goal past his goalkeeper after a Gareth Bale free-kick proved the decisive goal in the 34th minute.
The goalkeeper of Wales, Wayne Hennessey, contributed so much to the team’s success, usually so dependent on Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. However, during his debut season with the Wales national team, Caulfield wrote himself into the legend of Welsh football thanks to his outstanding performance against a Ukraine team that gave everything. A header from Artem Dovbyk heading for the top corner of the net was the best of his nine saves to date because he clawed it away with his fingers.
As a consequence of his brilliance, the nine shots on target Ukraine took during its 2022 European World Championship qualifying campaign were the most for any team without scoring during a match.
Ukraine ended cruelly as they had looked to qualify for the World Cup for the second time with an impressive performance in the playoff semi-final game against Scotland, which would have indeed merited a place in the 32-team competition in November.
The Welsh had their chances to win the match, too, with Brennan Johnson hitting the bar and Gareth Bale being denied by Georgiy Bushchan. Nevertheless, Wales’ performance in this match was seemingly dominated by the resolute rearguard, who has kept 12 clean sheets in their last 19 home appearances.
Wayne Hennessey was named man of the match
An organization’s management style is defined by its decision-making. The right decision was made by Page, who kept Hennessey in goal in such an important match. Despite not playing a domestic club game since January 2, Danny Ward had no trouble filling in for Hennessey after the semi-final victory over Austria.
An opposition team needs the inspiration of their goalkeepers when they have 22 shots on goal and create an expected goal total of 1.91. Many quality shots were lobbed at Hennessey, who made nine saves. When Ukraine was pounding on the door in front of their fans at the beginning of the second half, he played 2 of his best performances.
Viktor Tsygankov was denied with his legs, and Roman Yaremchuk fumbled the rebound. In addition, Dovbyk was dismissed with a one-handed save, which went down in Welsh football history.
In a statement, Hennessey stated
“This is an incredible experience, not just for me but for everyone on this pitch, the players who missed out, the staff, and the fans together.
During my time with Wales, it was probably my best performance. Ukraine is one of the best teams globally, but I’m ecstatic. We have a great generation of players, young lads, and old lads. We’ve also got great staff members who have been amazing and deserved this.”
A dream is made of this, Bale says
We’re thrilled to be going to the World Cup, and it’s the most remarkable result in Welsh football history.
Towards this end, we have been working since we arrived here.
My partner and I cannot find the right words to describe what we are feeling. It’s an incredible feeling, and I can’t explain what we are feeling now.
The game was challenging; I had not done much lately due to my back spasms. Therefore, it was challenging to complete the game, but the most important thing was to meet it.”
Are you ready for what comes next ?
Wales will face three matches in the Nations League. In Cardiff on Wednesday, Page’s team will play the Netherlands. On Saturday, they face Belgium before facing the Dutch in Rotterdam on June 14 at 7.45 pm. Page’s side will then face the Netherlands again at 7:45 pm on June 28 in Rotterdam.
On Wednesday, Ukraine will face the Republic of Ireland in a Nations League match in Dublin with a kickoff time of 7.45 pm.
During the ‘home’ leg of the competition, Ukraine will play two matches against Armenia on Saturday (2 pm kickoff) and against the Republic of Ireland on Monday (7.45 pm kickoff). The events will take place in Lodz, Poland, due to Russian incursions in Ukraine.
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