Jordan James scores the Welsh team to important World Cup triumph over Liechtenstein.
Wales earned a hard-fought 1-0 success against less-fancied opponents Liechtenstein to maintain their chances of World Cup finals qualifying.
Wales' James notched his debut goal for Wales from near the goal after Liechtenstein’s assorted collection of professionals, amateurs and students had held out for the majority of the match. James celebrated in joy with his obvious relief shared by the 3,000 Wales supporters filling multiple stands of the Rheinpark Stadion in the capital.
Moments later, however, James was shown a yellow card and another late caution for Ethan Ampadu resulted in the pair are suspended for Tuesday’s crunch tie with North Macedonia through suspension.
The Wales' ground contest is a game the Welsh team need to win to overtake North Macedonia and obtain a more favourable position in the final round in next spring.
Craig Bellamy had an different view from the sidelines, the Wales manager serving a sideline suspension after being shown a additional booking in the qualifiers earlier.
The manager's number two Piet Cremers assumed duties in the technical area and multiple first-teamers – Jordan James, Ampadu, Rodon, Neco Williams – were one caution from from missing the final qualifier. A pair were booked in situations that might hamper Wales.
Their opponents, situated among the lowest-ranked in global rankings, had not scored in their previous six losses and let in 23 times at an rate of almost four per match.
The visitors unsurprisingly had most of the play as their hosts employed a low defensive block and got bodies behind the ball.
Their opponent's target was rarely tested until Broadhead pressing won possession and James saw his effort from the penalty area parried by Benjamin Büchel.
That pairing created another chance, James finding Broadhead on this occasion with a well-weighted ball behind the defence.
The attacker's excellent touch beat Büchel but the Wrexham striker failed to finish from a tight angle.
The Welsh team felt they broken the deadlock after 26 minutes when James nodded a lofted Sorba Thomas corner back into a congested goal area.
The Liechtenstein keeper was harassed by Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch reached Broadhead who scored decisively. But Wales' celebrations were halted when the referee was sent to the video review system and determined that at least one of the Wales defenders was in an illegal position from Jordan's initial touch.
Wales increased the pressure after the half-time and Thomas provided a cross to the far post which the winger struck the woodwork.
Williams then directed his header off target from within the penalty box as it began to look like one of those nights for the Welsh side.
Yet, with the contest having ticked into its 61st minute, Williams played a clever pass for Daniel James to break behind the opposition backline.
Daniel James bypassed the goalkeeper with a delightful ball across the face of goal, and his teammate Jordan James had the simple job of ending Wales' anxiety.
