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Tengrinews.kz – The Kazakhstan national football team suffered a dramatic defeat against Wales in a World Cup qualifier at Astana Arena.
The match ended with a 0:1 victory for the Welsh side, despite numerous chances created by the Kazakh players.
The British press expressed surprise at how tough the match turned out to be for Wales.
"The final minutes were tense as Kazakhstan pushed hard for an equaliser, but Wales’ defensive resilience saw them through, with Ben Davies and Lawlor making key interventions late on.
Serikzhan Muzhikov almost clinched a point in the 96th minute for the hosts, clipping a lovely free-kick on to the crossbar to leave the visitors' hearts in their mouths," — wrote walesonline.co.uk.
British media noted that while Wales had the upper hand in the first half, Kazakhstan took the initiative in the second.
"Kazakhstan came out fighting in the second period, with Galymzhan Kenzhebek notably forcing a superb save from Karl Darlow," — stated Independent.
"But Wales had to ride their luck 3,000 miles away from home as Kazakhstan had numerous chances to equalise and twice struck Karl Darlow’s crossbar in the second half," — echoed nation.cymru.
Following the match, international media widely quoted Wales head coach Craig Bellamy, who also acknowledged the challenge of playing in Kazakhstan.
"Kazakhstan’s a very difficult place to come, it has been for international teams and also British clubs. You could see why today as well. Also being in September, our rhythm... you could see at times they are in the middle of their season. It's not excuses, it's just reality. I knew it was going to be really hard. We had to dig in. You have to do that in qualifiers, and we were able to do that," — Bellamy emphasized at the press conference.
This match also marked the first appearance for Kairat goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov in the Kazakhstan national team.
After the match, Kazakhstan head coach Ali Aliev noted that his players hit the frame of the goal multiple times, but lacked just a bit of finishing precision to change the result.
