Source: Daily_Mail
Wales skipper Bellamy: Northern Irish turn me green with envy
Craig Bellamy has made the surprising admission that he is jealous of Northern Ireland as he tries to lead Welsh football out of its latest rut. The Wales skipper is aiming to consign last Saturday's morale-sapping defeat by Finland to the history books tonight against a Germany side who already look to have one foot in next year's finals.But he does so against a backdrop of falling gates at the Millennium Stadium and a general dropping off of interest as Wales wait for several of their promising young footballers to come of age. Pole dance: Northern Ireland's players limbering up for their home qualifier against Slovenia tonight Bellamy's frustration boils over after Wales fail to qualify once againWales 0 Finland 2: Toshack's World Cup hopes are dealt a huge blowNorthern Ireland play up their 'intimidating' Windsor Park fortressNorthern Ireland 3 Poland 2: Top marks for Worthington's green machinePole-axed: Blundering Celtic keeper Boruc sent home after Beenhakker rowThe Manchester City striker maintained that the adopted home of Welsh football hadbecome too comfortable for visiting teams, urging the powerbrokers to find a way ofgenerating the same kind of atmosphere that prevails at Windsor Park.Bellamy spends a large chunk of his time away from the game studying opponents and tactics. And Northern Ireland's defeat of Poland did not go unnoticed. 'When you watch them it hurts,' he said. 'Of course it does. When you see the atmosphere they generate, you want to be a part of that. At Windsor Park, the pitch may be terrible and the changing rooms awful, but the crowd are fantastic. 'You can see the players respond to it. And, as a player, I'm envious. I think they werevoted the best supporters in Europe. At the moment, our opposition must think how nice it is playing against us. It's a nice stadium, nice city, there's no atmosphere and so they aren't put under any pressure.'Jealous: Wales skipper Craig BellamyThe Wales FA are contracted to play games at the Millennium Stadium but there is a growing feeling that either a move to Cardiff City's new ground or the Liberty Stadium in Swansea would have helped foster the kind of spirit Bellamy seeks. His feelings were compounded as the optimism evaporated after Saturday's performance. 'This has been a bad period for Welsh football,' he said. 'Until recently, we haven't had many players coming through and it has been a bit of a problem. For the first time, we have and everyone has got a bit excited. Rightly so. 'We looked like we were getting somewhere but after Finland that promise just seems to have gone. The public are asking why, but with a positive result against Germany we could be back on track 'However, they are an outstanding team and if we are not in their faces from the first whistle they will just pick us off. 'They will force the issue against us. But we are set up to counter-attack. We have struggled to break teams down, so maybe this will suit us more.'Wales coach John Toshack is poised to name Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey in his starting line-up tonight, with Bellamy's club colleague Ched Evans expected to partner his captain up front. Toshack said sorry for disappointing the supporters against the Finns. 'This is a chance to get some pride back,' he said. 'We let people down and I can only apologise.'Germany coach Joachim Low has warned his side to be wary of Wales. 'To me, they are like a boxer who has been knocked down. A wounded fighter who now wants to retaliate,' he said. 'They will be highly motivated because of the defeat by Finland and, because they're now playing Germany, there will be 20 per cent more effort.' WALES (4-4-2, probable): Hennessey; Gunter, Morgan, Collins, Williams; Bale, Davies, Ramsey, Ledley; Evans, Bellamy.GERMANY (4-4-2, probable): Enke; Beck, Mertesacker, Westermann, Lahm; Schweinsteiger, Hitzlsperger, Ballack, Trochowski; Gomez, Podolski.Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway).TV: Live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm.Kick-off 7.45pm. Bellamy's frustration boils over after Wales fail to qualify once againWales 0 Finland 2: Toshack's World Cup hopes are dealt a huge blowNorthern Ireland play up their 'intimidating' Windsor Park fortressNorthern Ireland 3 Poland 2: Top marks for Worthington's green machinePole-axed: Blundering Celtic keeper Boruc sent home after Beenhakker row