Key events
38 min: Sheehan belts a long-distance shot straight down Dimitrievski’s throat. Wales definitely on top now.
37 min: Better from Thomas, this, as he zips down the left, gets past Ilievski, and skelps a cross from a tight angle that Dimitrievski is forced to tip over the bar. Nothing comes of the corner.
35 min: Wales are beginning to dominate possession, and the home fans aren’t particularly pleased about it. A lot of agitated hooting and hollering.
33 min: Daniel James plays a cute reverse pass down the inside-right channel to release his namesake Jordan into the box. A low cross finds Thomas free, coming in from the left. Thomas has to score, but somehow screws his shot back across the face of goal. That’s an awful miss. Wales should be leading.
32 min: Jordan James has his pocket picked 35 yards from the Wales goal by the extended leg of Kostadinov. The ball pings to Alimi, who starts to stride his way down the middle, only to show enough of the ball to Mepham. A crunching tackle saves the day for Wales. Jordan James owes Mepham one there.
30 min: The game restarts and Miovski tries to smash a shot through a crowd on the edge of the Welsh box. The ball’s never pinballing its way through that. Blocked. Cleared.
29 min: Yep, he’s definitely going to continue, but he pulled quite the face upon putting some weight on that foot. Not sure he’s comfortable at all.
28 min: Dimitrievski is still down. He’s grimacing quite a lot. He steels himself to pull his boot back on. Looks like he’ll battle on for now.
26 min: North Macedonia keeper Dimitrievski is down and demanding treatment. He looks to have a problem with his left foot. On come the doctors, off comes the boot. Time for Wales to take on some water and tactical direction from their manager.
25 min: Ilievski goes skittering down the right touchline before whipping a low cross to the near post. Mepham batters clear with Miovski lurking.
23 min: Williams leaps to win a header, only to be accidentally nudged in mid-air by Elmas. Williams lands awkwardly. Just winded by the looks of it. He’s back up again soon enough.
21 min: Dan James wins a corner down the right. Thomas sends it long. Rodon wins a header but he’s too far out to trouble Dimitrievski.
19 min: Elmas turns Rodon with absurd ease on the left and goes dancing up the touchline. But he’s eventually crowded out, and Jordan James races off down the middle. His attempt to one-two his way into the box runs into a brick wall. It’s good fun, this, with both teams firmly in front-foot mode.
18 min: Now Alioski tugs illegally at Broadhead’s shirt. He’s really pushing his luck here.
17 min: Williams advances down the right before swiftly turning tail near the byline. Alioski, who has been sat down by the trick, throws out an arm and tap-tackles Williams on the ankle. No card, which is a result for North Macedonia given the cynicism. The resulting free kick, which is effectively a corner, is nothing to write home about.
15 min: Broadhead glides in from the right before swivelling and attempting to play a defence-splitter down the channel for Dan James. He gets the pass all wrong. But Wales come again, Broadhead releasing the same player down the right flank. Dan James tries to find Johnson in the middle with a low cross but again the final pass is lacking.
13 min: Broadhead wins a 50-50 challenge with Aliosko, getting to a bouncing ball first. It looks like a clean challenge, and one which sets Wales off on a promising attack, but Alioski goes down and the whistle goes. Adding insult to injury, Broadhead then receives the one-more-and-you’re-booked lecture from the ref. All seems a bit much, but at least it’s not a yellow card.
11 min: The referee stops the game to order Thomas to pull up his socks. Jack Grealish would last about two minutes with this dude.
9 min: Johnson nutmegs Serafimov and wins a free kick near the centre circle. Williams wedges it down the inisde-left channel, hoping to find Johnson in the box. There’s too much oomph on the pass, though, and Johnson is unable to keep the ball in play, despite telescoping a leg in the hope of hooking it back in.
7 min: Thomas again down the left flank. This time he gets the ball, and whips low and hard into the centre. Dimitrievski smothers.
6 min: Darlow takes his sweet time over what should be a simple pass upfield, and nearly gets closed down by Bardhi. An additional half-second of dallying there and the keeper was in all sorts.
5 min: Davies tries to release Thomas down the left flank but slices the pass out for a throw. It’s already clear that Wales fancy it along this flank.
3 min: … and now it’s North Macedonia’s turn to show their hand. Kostadinov romps down the inside-right channel before lashing a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post. If the match keeps going like this we’ll be doing well.
1 min: Nothing comes of it, though. Still, that’s a statement of intent from Wales.
29 secs: Jordan James makes good down the left and sends a speculative curler towards the bottom right. Dimitrievski is forced to turn around the post. The first corner of the evening didn’t take long.
North Macedonia kick off. A huge roar.
… but first a minute of silence for the poor souls who lost their lives in Kocani. Immaculately observed.
The teams are out. North Macedonia in black, Wales in red. We’ll be off once the anthems have been sung.
Bellamy also has a word with BBC Cymru Wales. “Energy … freshness … really important as it’s a very quick turnaround … North Macedonia have real counter-attacking ability … very good individual players, especially at the top end … we have to respect that … we’re prepared for as many scenarios as we can be … we’ll see how it plays out.”
Craig Bellamy talks to S4C. “We need freshness for this … very important … one or two changes with that in mind … Nathan Broadhead brings real intensity … a really good footballer … he’s always caught the eye … it will be a tricky game … different shapes.”
Both teams are in good form. Wales are unbeaten in seven under Craig Bellamy, and have won their last two matches handsomely, 4-1 against Iceland and 3-1 against Kazakhstan. North Macedonia are doing even better: they’re on a six-game winning streak, a run which has seen them win promotion to League B of the Nations League before winning their first game of World Cup qualification, Saturday’s 3-0 victory in Liechtenstein.
Tonight’s game in Skopje comes nine days after a nightclub fire in Kocani claimed 59 lives and injured many others. North Macedonia declared a seven-day period of national mourning in the wake of the tragedy, and tonight there will be a minute of silence before the match. Both sets of players will wear black armbands. “I’d like to send my condolences to the families and also the people of North Macedonia,” says Craig Bellamy. “We’ve had our own tragedies as well. We know as a country what they’re going through and I’d like them to know that everyone in Wales is fully behind them.”
Wales 3-1 Kazakhstan. A reminder of how Wales did last Saturday.
Wales make three changes to their starting XI after the 3-1 home win over Kazakhstan. Chris Mepham replaces Connor Roberts at the back, Jordan James takes a midfield spot from David Brooks, and Nathan Broadhead starts up front instead of Liam Cullen.
Aleksandar Trajkovski, whose late goal did for Wales in this fixture during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, and who put the finishing touch to this pitch-length move in Liechtenstein last Saturday …
… is on the bench.
The teams
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Zajkov, Serafimov, Musliu, Alioski, Ilievski, Alimi, Bardhi, Kostadinov, Miovski, Elmas.
Subs: Elezi, Iliev, Trapanosvki, Toshevski, Stankovski, Manev, Trajkovski, Stojchevski, Dimoski, Churlinov, Atanasov, Aleksovski.
Wales: Darlow, Thomas, Mepham, Rodon, Ben Davies, Williams, Johnson, Jordan James, Sheehan, Daniel James, Broadhead.
Subs: Koumas, Moore, Roberts, Matondo, Ward, Lawrence, Allen, Mark Harris, Adam Davies, Cullen, Cabango, Brooks.
Referee: Jerome Brisard (France).
Preamble
The end of this international break heaves into view. It hasn’t been one for the ages, if we’re being honest. But if there’s to be one last chance to leave it with something that will resonate through the years, then thank goodness Craig Bellamy’s entertainers are involved. Can they conjure something exciting in their Group J fixture in North Macedonia? We’ll soon find out and then it’ll be back to our beloved domestic grind. To rework the greatest autobiography title of them all: Let’s Get Through Tuesday. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!
