A World Cup long-awaited has, for Wales, ended with a whimper.
That is the harsh, brutal, but true reality of the last fortnight for Robert Page’s side, who are flying home from this tournament having scored just one goal, collected only one point and, most disappointingly of all, given nothing like a true account of themselves.
In his on-pitch interview with the BBC in the emotional moments after full-time last night, Page called his team’s first-half performance “outstanding”, adding: “We are disappointed to be leaving the tournament but if you're going to go out, that's the way”.
It was an eyebrow-raising assessment of a display that, like most of those against Iran and the USA, had given the superb travelling Red Wall little to cheer, a statement born no doubt of defiant pride in his team’s journey to Qatar rather than anything they have produced since arriving.
The optics of last night’s performance were not great, Wales showing little ambition in a must-win game, but the four-goal victory needed to overhaul England was never going to happen and Page was right to try to take the game deep, nick a result and pray for a favour elsewhere. That neither element of the plan came to fruition ultimately bore little responsibility for Wales’ fate in comparison to what had come before.
It is easy to feel sympathy for Page on some aspects of Wales’ exit, most notably the timing of a tournament that suited neither a few ageing stars and players short on club minutes, nor the much thinner crop only slowly emerging behind. This was a World Cup billed as a deserved second crescendo for the golden generation of 2016, but the longer the tournament has gone on, the clearer it has become that that probably came in qualifying back in June.
Page, for his part, has made costly tactical errors, first in leaving Kieffer Moore out of his line-up against the US and then in emptying his midfield with his substitutions against Iran, which left a barely fit Joe Allen overrun for both late goals.
Allen’s absence had been telling but the desperation to get the 32-year-old back from injury also highlighted the lack of talent at Wales’ disposal: three of the other central midfielders in this squad play their football in League One.
On the management of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, Page has been trapped between a rock and a hard place. Only a mad man would not have trusted the pair to start the World Cup, but once pre-tournament concerns over both players’ form and fitness became reality, he was too slow to act.
Bale, subbed at half-time last night, might be a special case but carrying two players is not feasible and, in hindsight, using Ramsey as an impact substitute in the middle of three games in nine days would surely have been the way to go.
“Of course we look back with frustration but it is an amazing achievement for that group of players to get here in the first place,” Page said later, in his press conference. “We build on that.”
The question is: how? Bale says he wants to play on and perhaps against lesser opposition in Euro 2024 qualifying, which starts in March, there will prove to be life in the old dog yet: he is, after all, not 34 until next summer.
Page suggested there would be no wholesale overhaul or revolution of youth, any churn in personnel instead taking place naturally and that would seem the sensible approach for a team that does not look ready to move on without having to lower expectations markedly.
For all Bale and Ramsey have born the brunt of the criticism this week, is there a single Welsh player leaving Qatar with their reputation enhanced? It is difficult to think of one.
