Bell tolling for weak Wales

CRAIG BELLAMY’S international future is in doubt after his yellow card in Saturday’s meek defeat to Finland brought another deflating qualification campaign to a premature end.

The Manchester City striker has been in career-best form for his club in recent weeks and maintained his purple patch with a first-half equaliser in Helsinki.

That goal marked Bellamy as Wales’ fifth highest scorer of all time, but any satisfaction the 30-year-old took from that moment was lost when Niklas Moisander struck a winner for the hosts 13 minutes from the end.

To further sour Bellamy’s mood, his 48th-minute booking means he will miss Wednesday’s final game of the campaign against Liechtenstein in Vaduz. “Sadly, this is the end of the group for me, and it hasn’t been a great campaign,” he said.

“But I have been here before, it’s not the first time, and you always try to make it better. But we will have to wait and see on that.’’

While Bellamy still talks of wanting to fight for the nation’s cause, just how much longer he will do so on a regular basis is now being openly discussed. Manager John Toshack has already admitted he is considering using Bellamy only for qualifiers in the future.

Bellamy, as long as he is fit, will no doubt want to lead out Wales on November 14 for the prestige of a home friendly with Scotland to inaugurate Cardiff City’s new ground as an international venue.

But after that Wales will have only a handful of friendlies before they embark on their European championship qualifiers next term. Bellamy could therefore go 10 months without playing for his country, and by that time he will be approaching 32. The striker’s importance was underlined in his goal on Saturday, but in the end Toshack’s side fell short and slipped to a sixth defeat in nine qualifying matches.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Craig Bellamy (Wales): Lively throughout and must be growing disillusioned at seeing his efforts continually end in defeat.

REFEREE: Milorad Mazic (Serbia) 6: The official handled matters well and was not to blame for Wales’ defeat.

MATCH RATING: ** Another limp showing from the Welsh, whose potential remains frustratingly unfulfilled.