Wales national team coach Craig Bellamy criticized the newly implemented four-match international window after his side’s loss to Denmark in the UEFA Nations League. The match, which took place on Sunday following Thursday's victory over Norway, saw Rasmus Hojlund score the winning penalty for Denmark. This defeat marked Wales' third loss in just ten days due to this intensified schedule, leaving Bellamy concerned about the physical toll and disadvantage it poses for smaller nations like Wales compared to larger football powers.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
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Story summary
Craig Bellamy, head coach of Wales, criticized a newly implemented four-match international window after his team's loss to Denmark in the Nations League. Wales had previously won against Norway, but injuries and fatigue from playing four matches within ten days hampered their performance. The coach feels that bigger nations benefited more from this new schedule, which merges the September and October breaks into one longer period compared to the traditional three windows of two games each in September, October, and November. Stars like Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, Dylan Lawlor, Harry Wilson, and David Brooks missed matches due to injuries, further stressing Bellamy's point about the disadvantage for smaller nations under this new format.
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- Published
Craig Bellamy suggested the new four-match international window had counted against Wales after Sunday's Nations League defeat against Denmark.
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window → publish → Denmark
His side failed to build on Thursday's win over Norway as they were deservedly beaten thanks to a second-half Rasmus Hojlund penalty.
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they → fail → penalty
It was a third loss in four games played inside 10 days as part of the newly elongated international break.
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It → play → break
Head coach Bellamy said his injury-hit squad paid the price for the heavy workload he feels benefits the bigger nations and "puts a real stress" on countries like Wales.
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he → say → Wales
"Physically, I completely agree with the ones who don't like [the new window].
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who → agree → window
It makes no sense," he added.
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he → make → sense
for the other nations, we know who they are because I was in the room when they all voted for it.
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they → know → it
"I was one of the ones who wasn't [voting for it], because we know it's a complete disadvantage to us.
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it → vote → us
"
Traditionally, international sides have played six games across three windows - all of which have featured two fixtures - in September, October and November.
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all → play → September
But for the first time this year, the September and October breaks were merged.
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breaks → merge → time
Wales' hopes of coping with the new schedule were not helped by a string of injuries, with stars such as Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, Dylan Lawlor and Harry Wilson missing the entire camp and David Brooks dropping out of the squad after defeat by Portugal in the opening game.
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Brooks → cop → game
Bellamy said Dan James was not fit enough to play against Denmark after he was left on the bench at the Cardiff City Stadium, and acknowledged Ben Davies probably should have been rested after he was withdrawn late on.
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he → say → Stadium
"If we have a few injuries, which we had more than one or two, they miss four games," said Bellamy.
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Bellamy → have → games
"We can deal with two, do you understand?
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you → deal → two
And then the squad will get really tested.
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squad → test → ?
The intensity of the squad, the athleticism, really I think [the four-game break] is designed for the elites.
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break → think → elites
"[They can] say, we can go, we can go, we can turn over these games really, really quickly and we can change, we can change [the team] like for like because we have the numbers.
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we → say → numbers
So, it puts a real stress on a lot of us."
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it → put → us
Ward did 'incredibly' to keep it level before penalty
Wales rarely looked like scoring against Denmark, who came close to breaking the deadlock on a couple of occasions before Hjolund's 75th-minute winner.
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who → keep → winner
"On Thursday [against Norway] we were on the front foot so we're able to shorten distance," Bellamy added.
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Bellamy → shorten → distance
"Today, we just couldn't work it well enough, couldn't get the energy up enough to be able to have a bigger say in the game."
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we → work → game
Danny Ward made fine saves from Hojlund and Gustav Isaksen to keep Wales level but it was the goalkeeper's error, and foul, which led to the penalty.
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which → make → penalty
Bellamy, though, suggested the game had not swung on Ward's mistake, adding: "Obviously it's the decisive moment, but he made two incredible saves before that.
"
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he → suggest → that
I thought Denmark with the physicality were able to just crank it a little bit.
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Denmark → think → it
You see their runs are really menacing, so I felt they were knocking on the door.
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they → see → door
He did incredibly well to keep it 0-0 to that time."
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He → do → time
Despite defeat, Wales climbed to third in Nations League Group A4 courtesy of their head-to-head record against Norway after the Norwegians were beaten 2-1 in Portugal.
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Norwegians → climb → Portugal
Wales play Norway in Oslo next month before completing the campaign with a home game against Portugal three days later.
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Wales → play → Portugal
The Aporia
