Wales' Toshack bemoans 'worst 45 mins'

John Toshack asked his big-name stars to produce a powerful performance to carry Wales towards Euro 2008. He did not get it.

It is rare for the Wales manager to ever criticise the likes of Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Simon Davies – the only players he has in a squad full of youth and journeymen who play regularly at the very top level.

But as the sheer awfulness of Wales’ display at Croke Park slowly sank in, Toshack got as close as he could to questioning the Premiership brigade.

He said: “We didn’t play well at all. The Republic are experienced, with players from a high level. We only had three players who are regularly performing at that higher level, compared to the Irish who had most of their side.

“We try to organise ourselves well so we can create a platform for our big players to make a difference.

“In that first half they couldn’t. It was the worst 45 minutes under my control. It can be said that they (Giggs, Bellamy, Davies) have played better games for Wales.”

The 6,000 fans who made the trek over to Dublin stood in annoyed disbelief for long spells.

Stephen Ireland bagged the fine-angled winner for Ireland in the first half, and only a couple of Bellamy efforts – one when he was clean through and thwarted by Shay Givens’ legs and another when he mis-hit a Giggs cross on the six-yard line – were as close as Wales got to snatching a point.

Toshack was without the quality and experience of Danny Gabbidon, Mark Delaney and Jason Koumas. And it showed.

This was the day he was forced to trust in the youth of Gareth Bale, 17, Lewin Nyatanga, 18 and Joe Ledley, 20. All struggled – particularly against Damien Duff – in the huge expanses of Croke Park in front of 73,000.

Toshack added: “We had one isolated burst into the Irish penalty area, where Craig Bellamy might have done better.

“We looked a little more like ourselves in the second half, but we didn’t threaten enough where it mattered.

“Maybe I will have to explain more clearly to some players what is wanted from them. And sometimes you get situations where certain players do not perform the way you know they can do.

“For qualification hopes, I would think it is over. But we must pick ourselves up very quickly for the home game on Wednesday against San Marino.

“That looks to some people like a simple exercise. But Steve Staunton, Ireland’s boss, will tell you that it is not simple. The Irish were very fortunate to win in injury-time against them recently.

“Unless we approach it in the right way and find a formula and a way to play, it will be difficult. The Irish found that.”

You can usually rely on the ’big three’ to work their socks of for Wales, professionally they cannot be faulted. That is why Saturday’s display in Dublin was so hard to fathom.

Meanwhile, Eamonn Dunphy also took Giggs and Bellamy to task.

He said on air: “Giggs and Bellamy did not try a leg, they were saving themselves for the Champions League.”

After the match, Giggs said: “It leaves it very difficult for us in the group. We are not going to give up, but it makes it hard with the tough games we still have to play.

“What we must do is look forward, learn from this. We must get a positive result against San Marino. We just want to perform so much better next time.

“We let ourselves down and we especially let the fans down. We showed more fight after the break, there was a quicker tempo, and we were better as a team. At least we finished the game well going into Wednesday’s match.

“I still haven’t given up on reaching a major finals. You do not give up, you keep on going. It is not just about me, it is not personal, I am just looking forward to getting a good result on Wednesday and doing my best for Wales.”

He added: “It was a very bad day for us. I don’t know what it was in that first half, we didn’t play like we know we can, but when we came out for the second period it was a completely different game.

“We were a lot better individually and as a team. We knew there would be few clear-cut chances. You had two teams who were both desperate for a victory, and couldn’t afford to lose.

“In such situations you know you have to take the chances when they do come along and we didn’t.

“I was a bit disappointed at the end in the box, I got a little nudge from Duff as I went for a header. It wasn’t a stone-wall penalty, sometimes you get those decisions and sometimes not.”