West Ham striker Craig Bellamy missed Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier for Wales against Germany, as his wife and baby daughter remained in the hospital after the little girl's recent birth. The fairer Bellamys left the hospital in time for Craiggers to score twice and help force an own goal by Slovakia in a 5-2 Wales victory in Trnava, Slovakia, Wednesday night. Wales manager John Toshack called Bellamy's performance scintillating in his first match as captain of the Wales side. The starting XI also featured two West Ham backliners -- Danny Gabbidon and James Collins.
The Welsh would pretty much need a miracle to qualify for the finals. They sit tied for fourth, with Slovakia and Cyprus, in Group D, having played eight of 12 group matches. Even if they managed to win all four of the remaining matches -- three of them on the road, including a visit to group leader Germany -- they would be on 22 points, just two more than the second-place team, the Czech Republic, have accumulated through nine matches.
England beat Russia 3-0 at Wembley and Scotland pulled off a 1-0 upset of France in Paris. Scotland sits atop its group, ahead of both World Cup finalists from a year ago, Italy and France. England now needs a win and two draws to guarantee qualification for the finals next summer. What will the critics say and write now? I'm just glad that I can look forward to Premiership action again on Saturday.
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