Its all kicking off in the middle east to put it lightly and this has had a influence on Wales Under 21 schedule please read below for details.
Under 21 Game Switch
Wales Under 21 team take on Israel in a crucial second round qualifier and on the following weekend Wales womens team were due to play Israel Ladies. Both games were due to take place in Tel Aviv but after the outbreak of violence in the middle eastern hot spot the games look likely to be changed to Cyrpus where Israel have played games before during waring periods. David Collins FAW Secutary General is in talks with UEFA now , matters are not likely to be helped by the advance of Israili soilders into Lebanon this morning. Its likely the fixtures will be changed to a venue in Cyprus as obviously the safety of the team and supporters is paramount.
The Next Stage
After succesfully qualifying to the first qualifying group stage Wales will take on Israel in a intresting fixture on Wednesday 16th August , the same night the first team take on Bulgaria in Swansea. Obviously for the fans this means a choice between two tottally different occasions. The Under 21 match will take place at Herzliya Municipal Stadium near Tel Aviv . Kick Off 7pm local. Then we will have a home game likely to be played at the Racecourse against Turkey on the 2nd September. The only team to progress will be the team that wins the group and the group consists of only those two fixures mentioned above for Wales and the same for the other two sides.
Wales 5 - 1 Estonia - (Craig Davies 3,27,44. Arron Davies 43, 73) - Gossev (60)
This game was viewed by Kate and Viv 'we hate international football' Grandfield who enjoyed a crucial win for Wales and made sure that we wernt cast into the international wilderness to play meaningless friendlies against other non qualifying nations. The under 21 team has really been on the up recently and is a vast contrast to the team that just could not win a few years ago. Good young players have come through to the first team and they came back to prove them selves again at under 21 level. We can now look forward to two highly comeptative fixtures against Israel (away) and Turkey (home) to see if we progress any further.
Wales line-up:
Lewis Price, Simon Spender, Rhoys Wiggins, Craig Morgan, Mike Williams, Arron Davies, Andrew Crofts (Capt), David Edwards, Shaun MacDonald, Craig Davies, Ramon Calliste.
Subs: Sam Pearce, Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Lloyd James, Rob Davies, Dale Williams, Curtis McDonald.
Wales 1 vs 0 Cyprus - Mike Williams 45 mins
A less experienced side more typical of our usual Under 21 show narrowly beat Cyrpus at the Remax Stadium in Port Talbot in preperation for next week return qualifier against Estonia , to put this result into context it has been a busy period for wiery Under 21's who have just returned from that vital match in Talinn not to mention the obvious end of the season. Also Wales only sneaked a well battled out draw in Cyprus in November due to a baffling own goal to make it 3-3.
Wales line-up:
Sam Pearce (Bristol City), Chris Gunter (Cardiff), Craig Morgan (MK Dons), Michael Williams (Wrexham), Rhoys Wiggins (Crystal Palace), Gareth Bale (Southampton), Simon Spender (Wrexham), Matthew Crowell (Wrexham), David Edwards (Shrewsbury), Arron Davies (Yeovil), Craig Davies (Verona).
Subs: Kyle Letheren (unattached), Ramon Calliste (Liverpool), Curtis McDonald (Cardiff), Dale Williams (Yeovil), Lloyd James (Southampton), Rob Davies (West Brom), Kyle Critchell (Southampton
Estonia 0 - 2 Wales - Cotterill 28 mins pen , Arron Davies 75 mins
Wales line up:
Lewis Price (Ipswich Town), Richard Duffy (Portsmouth) (Capt), Rhoys Wiggins (Crystal Palace), Joe Ledley (Cardiff City), Craig Morgan (MK Dons), Lewin Nyatanga (Derby County), Arron Davies (Yeovil Town), Andrew Crofts (Gillingham), Craig Davies (Hellas Verona), David Cotterill (Bristol City), Curtis McDonald (Cardiff Cit
The Under 21 are taking part in a busy schedule of Under 21 fixtures . They recently played a extremely important game against Estonia in Tallin where Wales won 2-0 , it was a impressive team who steam rollered Estonia on there home patch including the likes of Lewis Price and Joe Ledley to make sure of a vital qualification to the official UEFA Under 21 tournament and avoiding international wilderness. They play the return leg of the fixture at the Racecouse on 24th of this month with a equally strong line up expected .
In the meantime a less star studded Under 21 team play Cyrpus at Port Talbot's ground at 2pm today.