Two years to the day since penalty shootout heartbreak against Poland, more agony from 12 yards for Wales. Bosnia and Herzegovina prevailed on spot-kicks after a typically absorbing night in the Welsh capital, one that went the distance, more than 133 minutes passed before Brennan Johnson spooned over and Neco Williams saw his penalty saved by Nikola Vasilj, who read Williams’s effort to his left.
For so long it had seemed Daniel James, whose spot-kick was saved by Wojciech Szczesny to kill hopes of reaching Euro 2024, would be the match-winner but Edin Dzeko, who turned 40 this month, glanced in a header to take the game to extra time. For the second successive qualifying campaign, the locals left the Cardiff City Stadium with that horrible feeling in the pits of their stomachs, a numbness.
At 1-0, James cracked a shot against the underside of the bar, via a deflection from Tarik Muharemovic but then Dzeko headed in at a corner to stun the hosts. Dzeko’s work was done, the former Manchester City striker withdrawn at the end of normal time. Dzeko played the role of masseuse, easing the cramp in the legs of Ermedin Demirovic and in extra time Dzeko was booked for confronting Craig Bellamy in the home technical area. Muharemovic made a preposterous headed block to deny Wilson a certain goal four minutes into extra time but ultimately the game boiled down to penalties, the substitute Kerim Alajbegovic scoring the decisive spot-kick.
Bellamy vowed Wales would attack and his players followed through on his promise, flying forward at every opportunity and haring after the ball on the few occasions it was not in their possession. Harry Wilson and David Brooks stood on the edge of Bosnia’s 18-yard box at every opposition goal-kick like greyhounds primed in the traps. Wales’s nimble attacking quartet – Wilson, Brooks, James and Brennan Johnson – caused problems and Bosnia were fortunate only three of their players headed down the tunnel at half-time with bookings; the former Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac was fortunate he had only one. Piet Cremers, one of Bellamy’s highly regarded assistants, gladly moonlighted as a ball boy, feeding Wilson to take a quick throw-in.
There was that big-night energy swirling around the stadium long before the players emerged, the anthems bringing a typically rousing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, for which Johnson closed his eyes, absorbing the emotion from all four sides. A pensive Bellamy sat, legs crossed, in the seconds before Johnson got things under way after the Romanian referee, Istvan Kovacs, who took charge of last season’s Champions League final, blew the first whistle. James was the subject of Kolasinac’s first heavy challenge and inside five minutes Amar Memic was cautioned for getting hands on an advancing ilson, undoubtedly the breakout star of Wales in this post-Gareth Bale era.
It was no surprise, then, that Wilson went closest to opening the scoring midway through a one-sided first half. Brooks spied Wilson free just inside the Bosnia box and punched a pass into the Fulham midfielder. Wilson took the ball on his left foot and, with his next touch, confidently wrapped his left boot around a bouncing ball, sending a smarting shot against the upright of Nikola Vasilj’s goal. Vasilj was beaten and, as he swivelled his head towards the top corner, he cut a resigned figure. While it felt as though Bosnia were in danger of going under, they made a couple of forays, the best Ermedin Demirovic hooking a tame shot at Karl Darlow from a long throw.
Wales were unrelenting in their pressure. Brooks skipped past Nikola Katic, who had committed on halfway, and then crossed dangerously from the right, the visitors thankful to only concede a corner. Kolasinac blocked off James in the face a couple of minutes after Demirovic crunched the Leeds winger, leaving Bellamy exchanging words with his opposite number. Joe Rodon’s superbly-timed slide tackle on Memic in first-half stoppage drew huge cheers. Jay Dasilva, the Coventry full-back and one of the smallest players on the pitch, defied logic to win a series of important headers.
Wales carried on where they left off in the second half but pined for the tangible reward that James’s stunning goal brought seven minutes after the restart. Dylan Lawlor, the 20-year-old Cardiff defender, headed the ball forward and Benjamin Tahirovic misplaced his pass on halfway, plunging his defence into a spot of bother. James headed the ball downward and, despite not even appearing to raise his head, he had the picture in his mind, the awareness to know Vasilj was out of position and sent a speculative strike into the top corner from 25 yards.
If that felt good, James almost doubled his tally before the hour, a goal that would have put Wales in dreamland. Wilson drove forward 30 yards from Darlow’s goal, dribbling from one half into the other before slipping in James inside the box. James chopped inside a panicked Tarik Muharemovic and piled an effort at goal, which the Bosnia centre-back diverted on to the underside of the crossbar. All the while, Bosnia remained very much alive in an enthralling contest.
Bellamy had warned Wales a chaotic game would not suit his players but that was exactly what ensued. Darlow improbably denied Demirovic, who steered his effort from Dzeko’s cushioned header towards the top corner and then he missed a chance to latch on to Esmir Bajraktarevic’s dinked cross. Joe Rodon wrongly assumed the danger was clear. The Wales substitute Liam Cullen poked wide in the first of five minutes of stoppage time but neither team could force a winner to prevent at least another half an hour.