Sweden Under 21 v Wales Under-21 - friendly match. - Tuesday 21-Aug-07. Halmstad |
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Wales won a thrilling Under 21 friendly international by 4-3 in Halmstad this evening. The game saw two squads who were new to international football at this level, and things looked bad for Wales as Sweden converted two penalties in the opening half hour through Toivonen - the first looked a harsh decision on Rhys Williams on 19 minutes (Middlesbrough), but the second was clear cut after an error by Mike Williams (Wrexham) on 31 minutes. Just before then, Wales had equalised through David Cotterill (Wigan Athletic) on 27 minutes when he shot home from 8 yards. The Swedes looked to be in total control when they made it 3-1 after 44 minutes when Toivonen completed his hat-trick, but Wales came straight back through a scrambled goal by Luton Town's Dave Edwards on the stroke of half time, to give the boys in red hope for the second half. Manager Brian Flynn made two half time substitutions, replacing Owain Fon Williams (Crewe Alexandra) in goal with Chelsea's Rhys Taylor and Cardiff City's Arron Ramsey took over from Swansea City's Matthew Collins. Thirteen minutes into the second half, Wales drew level when Sam Vokes, a third substitute (for Cotterill 57m) who had only just come on to the field had a header that hit the post and rebound out to him, for him then to cooly slot the ball between the 'keeper's legs. From then on, it was all Wales and on 61 minutes, Swansea City's talented young midfielder, Joe Allen, volleyed home a cross from the right from 8 yards out. Both teams pressed for more goals in the final thirty minutes, but that was the end of the scoring, giving Wales a moral boosting start to their season, that sees them in UEFA Under 21 action against France, Malta, Bosnia-Herzegovina. There were three other Wales subsitutions: Neil Taylor (Wrexham) replaced Rhys Williams (57m), Simon Church (Reading) replaced Ched Evans (Manchester City) (76m) and finally Owain warlow (Lincoln City) replaced Joe Allen (83m). A crowd of 1,717 watched the game. Wales had three bookings: Rhys Williams (24m), David Cotterill (35m) and Mike Williams (90m). - Match report from the FAW |
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