00:00Looking at the Wales men's national football team under Craig Bellamy,
00:06they've had quite the start under Bellamy as their head coach.
00:10And I think what's special about this team at the moment
00:12is the young talent that they have at their disposal.
00:16Of course, Wales, under previous regimes, under previous managements
00:20in the last sort of 10 years, they've had so many good world-class players
00:25who have seen them into major international tournaments,
00:27the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, of course.
00:30You look back at Euro 2016, for example, getting them there to the semi-finals.
00:35And then, of course, you look back at Euro 2020 as well.
00:38And you also look to the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
00:41Now, though, that era has come to an end.
00:44And ultimately, they've got this new, fresh batch of talent coming into the set-up at Wales
00:50under Craig Bellamy, of course, former striker for the Wales national team.
00:53And you have to think, well, this is really a talented group.
00:56You look at the likes of Brennan Johnson, for example, at Tottenham.
00:59Forward attacking players as well, to name just but one.
01:03So let's go now to our Wales sport correspondent, Charles Hague Jones.
01:06Charles, who else, apart from perhaps Brennan Johnson,
01:10can we talk about when it comes to Wales at the moment?
01:13Of course, you've got the likes of Ethan Ampadu as well.
01:15Joe Rodon, perhaps more further back in the pitch.
01:19Can they, alongside Brennan Johnson up top, can they provide Wales with the sort of impetus
01:26they need to become a major player in the European scene once again and qualify for the upcoming
01:32World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico, which of course takes place next summer?
01:36And can Craig Bellamy be the man who helped steer them there?
01:39Yeah, there are some fantastic talents throughout Welsh football.
01:46And, I mean, you've got to look at the bigger picture in terms of, you know,
01:49both across the men's and women's games in terms of where those teams are going,
01:53where they are in terms of really making sure they are almost qualifying for the major tournaments,
02:00if not so, and obviously Wales women, they qualify for their first major tournament with young players.
02:07You know, you look at the under-17s for Welsh Euros, they qualified for the first time ever in 2023
02:14and then did it again in 2024 as well.
02:18The Welsh men's team, they're looking forward to trying to qualify for the World Cup 2026,
02:23which is a remarkable achievement for them.
02:25You know, the goals are really simple, that Wales now are looking at these major tournaments,
02:31trying to make sure that they are there, they are consistently qualifying for them.
02:36In terms of players to watch, there are so many.
02:39I mean, you have to really look firstly at the Cumbru Talent ID.
02:43The FA of Wales has obviously created regional talent ID programmes starting from under 12s,
02:50which have produced over 80% of senior internationals.
02:54Now, that's one of the biggest percentages across the entire European sort of talent ID programmes,
03:01building a pipeline for constant and consistent future success.
03:06A few players to watch, Braden Clarke already involved with Arsenal under-21s,
03:12born in 2007 after a move from Wolves.
03:16A unique achievement, the only Welsh player to feature in two consecutive UEFA under-17s finals.
03:23Dylan Lawler, born in 2006, Cardiff City's Academy, captain of the under-21s,
03:31made a full debut in the FA Cup in February this year, then received a senior Wales call-up as well.
03:39Bellamy is a real fan of him, you know, born in 2006, an unbelievable bit of achievement there.
03:45And then Kean Ashford, 2004, so only, you know, 20 or so years old.
03:52Cardiff forward with 33 senior appearances and three goals in the Championship.
03:57That's incredible.
03:58That makes him really a huge key for Cardiff moving forward.
04:01Can they keep him?
04:02Can they give him that platform in League One to go and express himself and really make a difference in the third tier?
04:08I think the fact that they are having massive, massive impacts at a good level.
04:12You know, these are Championship players.
04:14These are, you know, Championship and better players as well.
04:17But the bottom line is, thanks to a structured youth pathway and standout individuals now rising through at Senior Club Football,
04:24as I say, they're having great platforms to go and play.
04:27There's strong momentum behind Wales.
04:28Wales is developing a new generation to follow the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in their era,
04:35because it's so important they replace it and use the future to embed these future stars into Welsh football.
Comments