Liechtenstein vs Wales: Piet Cremers progresses in Bellamy’s absence

Cremers will become the youngest coach to lead a UEFA national team in an official match since Terry Neal was Northern Ireland coach, taking charge on a player-manager basis in a Euro 1972 qualifier against the Soviet Union in October 1971, aged 29 years, five months and five days.

But although Cremers may be relatively young in coaching, he does not lack the high-level experiences that he hopes will lead him to become a manager in his own right one day.

The Dutchman, who also worked at Brentford, originally joined Manchester City as a match analyst for the Under-23s before being promoted to Guardiola’s side as lead analyst in 2018, playing a role in four Premier League title victories.

Upon leaving his role as City’s Head of Analysis and Insights in 2022, Cremers took up the role of assistant coach under Kompany at Turf Moor – where he was integral to the club’s 2023 promotion to the Premier League as champions with a points tally of 101.

At Burnley, Cremers formed a close relationship with Bellamy, who also worked under Kompany.

In fact, one of the first major decisions Bellamy made after being appointed Wales coach in the summer of 2024 was to appoint Cremers to his staff.

When asked in November 2024 what Cremers added to his squad, Bellamy replied: “Everything. The year we had at Burnley was up to him.

“We killed the league, and it was like that. It had never happened before.

“Pete really pushed us down that path. Vinnie was always very smart about picking the best people.

“He brought Pete into our world at that time and it was amazing, he moved so many different areas for us.”