Dragons slain by Finland

Wales' World Cup dreams are fading fast after they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Finland.

Johansson and Kuqi put Toshack's men to the sword

Wales' World Cup dreams are fading fast after they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Finland. Goals towards the end of each half from Jonatan Johansson and Shefki Kuqi proved to be the difference between the two sides during a drab 2010 qualifying contest at the Millennium Stadium. Wales knew three points were an absolute must heading into the game and they dictated proceedings during the opening exchanges. Craig Bellamy looked lively up front, while Chris Gunter and Gareth Bale provided ample support down the flanks. However, with only three minutes of the first half remaining, Finland struck against the run of play as former Charlton striker Johansson opened the scoring. The classy Jari Litmanen split the Welsh defence with a clever through-ball and Wayne Hennessey was easily beaten after racing from his line. The visitors were rarely threatened after the break and looked the more likely to add to the scoreline. Hennessey kept Wales in the game with a couple of smart saves, while the 38-year-old Litmanen continued to dictate the pace of the game in a manner befitting a man half his age. A second goal did materialise in stoppage-time as substitute Kuqi beat the offside trap before slotting a composed finish in the bottom corner. Wales are now left on six points from their five games, while Finland climb to third in Group Four after securing their second victory of the campaign.

Nervous

With so much riding on the outcome, Wales' youngsters looked nervous from the start against a Finland side who were quicker to the ball and more fluid in their movement. Litmanen, the former Ajax and Liverpool playmaker, may be 38 but he can still pick a pass and find space to work in, and he certainly punished Wales with his precision, particularly for the first-half Johansson goal. Wales did slowly get into the game and Jussi Jaaskelainen needed to be astute to pull down a Bale cross. Bellamy was up against his former Anfield club-mate Sami Hyypia and he forced the big defender to block an angled shot from the right. But too often the supply to Bellamy was too slow or inaccurate as he made runs into the channels. John Toshack had made it clear to Jason Koumas and Simon Davies he wanted good performances from his senior men and slowly the pair got going. But chances were rare. The best came after 23 minutes when Carl Fletcher's chip into the box was met by a diving header from James Collins, saved well by Jaaskelainen. David Edwards, too, was getting forward more to support Bellamy and had one header wide, while it needed Hyypia's calm intervention to stop a Bellamy flick reaching the Wolves midfielder. Finland were soaking up Wales' pressure and Mikael Forssell got away to squeeze past Collins in the box only for keeper Hennessey to come to the rescue.

Quicker

Then Hyypia got on the end of a Litmanen free-kick to force Hennessey into another save. Wales' attacks needed to be quicker and, when Edwards surged forward and found Koumas, Finland were opened up. Only a poor ball into the six-yard box from the Wigan man wasted the good work. The next time Finland broke out of defence, after 42 minutes, they scored. Collins was playing Johansson fractionally onside out on the right and the 33-year-old frontman reached a Litmanen through ball ahead of Hennessey to force an angled effort in off the near post, his 18th international goal on his 93rd appearance for his country. It could have been two when Roman Eremenko found an unmarked Forssell in the box but a good tackle by Bale and a smothering save from Hennessey averted the danger. Finland had shown themselves capable of stifling Wales' ambitions and it was a tough task now facing Toshack's side. Soon after the break Forssell almost caught them out with a strong run and shot wide, while Markus Heikkinen was booked for bringing down Davies in full flow. Then Bellamy robbed Hyypia and sped away to send Koumas in on the left, only for Jaaskelainen to save the angled shot when there were men waiting in the box.

Tripped

But Wales were just too slow going forward and made things worse by increasingly squandering possession. Forssell, again, got away into the box and forced a fine save from Hennessey. Then Joe Ledley headed off the line from Hannu Tihinen before 18-year-old Aaron Ramsey was thrown into the fray in place of Edwards after 55 minutes. Gunter looked to have been tripped in the box by Petri Pasanen but Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez gave the free-kick outside the area. Jaaskelainen was then booked for time wasting before Carl Robinson replaced Fletcher after 64 minutes. Robert Earnshaw came on for Ledley as Wales sought extra attacking options but it was Forssell again who could have got the second, Hennessey making two outstanding saves in quick succession from the former Birmingham player. Finland sent on Daniel Sjolund for Aleksei Eremenko with Wales running out of ideas in front of an increasingly frustrated 22,604-strong crowd. The Finns were expertly running down the clock with good possession and movement. Kuqi came on for Forssell with two minutes left and it was the Crystal Palace striker who got away on the left to ram home the second with time running out.

Wales	Team Statistics	Finland
0	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	1
2	Shots on Target	10
3	Shots off Target	3
3	Blocked Shots	1
4	Corners	2
9	Fouls	15
4	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
83.2	Passing Success	80.4
19	Tackles	29
68.4	Tackles Success	75.9
56.8	Possession	43.2
52.2	Territorial Advantage	47.8