Craig Bellamy: Inside the complex mind of the Wales coach

There was a spiritual motive for Bellamy’s return to Wales.

Born in Cardiff, he spent most of his football career outside his homeland, representing clubs such as Liverpool and Newcastle.

As a coach, Bellamy followed Vincent Kompany to Anderlecht and Burnley, describing his time under the current Bayern Munich boss as an “education”.

The former Manchester City team-mates remain good friends and speak frequently, but Bellamy felt it was time to become a head coach in his own right when his country came calling.

Despite only being Kompany’s assistant at Burnley, Bellamy took a huge pay cut to take over as Wales coach.

However, this was a job like no other. In addition to the obvious emotional connections, Bellamy had no unfinished business.

He has never had the opportunity to play in a major international tournament, but as head coach, he aims to rectify that by qualifying for the World Cup this summer.

“You always have that feeling of chasing something, like I want to qualify, I want to be in the majors,” Bellamy says.

“But how do we do that? I have a lot of flaws, but the team needs to play hard, play with balls.

“As long as you have faith, that’s the motivation. That’s why you do a lot of work, that’s why you look at the opposition.”

“As a Wales footballer, I didn’t really feel faith, I just felt hope. Italy [when Wales won 2-1 in 2002 in a European Championship qualifier] It was different because we took the game to them. “We were great but there weren’t many nights like that.”

Bellamy scored the winner when Wales last faced Italy in Cardiff, a momentous occasion at a sold-out Millennium Stadium.

The two teams will meet again if they win the World Cup qualifiers semi-final on Thursday, with the final match being held at Cardiff City Stadium the following Tuesday.

Like Bellamy himself, Welsh football has been unrecognizable since that unforgettable night 24 years ago.

After being absent from major tournaments since the 1958 World Cup, Wales not only qualified for Euro 2016, but also reached the semi-finals in France, three years after Bellamy’s retirement.

They followed this up by reaching the knockout stages of the 2020 European Championship and then qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Bellamy wants to build on this success and take his country to new heights.

“Euro 2016, that moment was like ‘here we are’. It gave me that belief and I want to keep doing it,” he says.

“We are punching well above our weight but this is where we want to be. We need to do this consistently. I like expectations.

“This is what it takes to be a Wales player. To wear this shirt, these are the qualities you have to have. I think we have a chance to constantly be in the big leagues.”

With that Bellamy turns back to his laptop. The cursor hovers over files labeled ‘Italy’ and ‘Northern Ireland’ – Wales’ likely opponents in the final – then back to ‘Bosnia’.

Whether Wales qualify for this summer’s World Cup finals or not, it will not be for lack of preparation.