Bellamy

The pursuit of perfection can consume some sportspeople. Logically, they know the goal itself is unattainable, but the endeavour to get there can take them to new heights.

Craig Bellamy is one such person. He doubts whether anyone or anything can be perfect but, on Tuesday night, he saw his Wales team come close as they dismantled North Macedonia 7-1.

The result was one thing, the victory Wales needed to finish second in their World Cup qualifying group and secure home advantage for their play-off semi-final in March.

The performance was another matter altogether, a dizzying mix of expressive, ultra-attacking football played at a rapid pace, combined with a raw physical intensity off the ball which overwhelmed their opponents.

North Macedonia had only conceded three goals in seven qualifiers before coming to Cardiff City Stadium. They doubled that total in the space of 19 first-half minutes, before leaving the Welsh capital humiliated.

“I am not a perfect person, I haven’t come across anyone who is,” said Bellamy .

“But maybe I take a little bit of that back because that was as close to the perfect performance as I have seen. That was incredible.

“The way we were able to use the ball, our timing. We didn’t play with a forward, we had three [number] 10s. But they were in the position where you drag someone out and someone runs, then the wide players were connected with it as well.

“We were just so clean with the ball and that allows you to have good chances. It was one of those days where we are able to take them as well.”

Cremers will become the youngest coach to lead a Uefa national team in a competitive match since Terry Neill was in charge of Northern Ireland, taking over on a player-manager basis for a Euro 1972 qualifier against the USSR in October 1971 aged 29, five months and five days.

But while Cremers may be relatively young in coaching terms, he is not lacking in the top-level experiences he hopes will see him become a manager in his own right one day.

The Dutchman, who has also worked at Brentford, originally joined Manchester City as a match analyst for the under-23s before his promotion to Guardiola’s set-up as chief analyst in 2018, playing a role in four Premier League title wins

Upon leaving his role as head of analysis and insights at City in 2022, Cremers took up the position as assistant coach under Kompany at Turf Moor – where he was integral in the club’s 2023 promotion into the Premier League as champions with a points total of 101.

And it was at Burnley where Cremers forged a close relationship with Bellamy, who also worked under Kompany.

Indeed, one of Bellamy’s first key decisions following his appointment as Wales head coach in the summer of 2024 was to appoint Cremers to his staff.

When asked in November 2024 what Cremers added to his team, Bellamy replied: “Everything. The year we had at Burnley was down to him.

“We murdered the league, and it was that. It hadn’t been done before.

“Piet really pushed us towards this way. Vinny was always very intelligent about sounding out the best people.

“He brought Piet into our world then and it was just like ‘wow’, he moved so many different areas for us.”

Craig Bellamy laughs when asked about Rubin Colwill, the 23-year-old forward currently impressing for Cardiff City.

“He’s big for you, isn’t he?,” Bellamy asks the reporter who brings up his name.

Not that Bellamy is not a fan of the nine-cap midfielder, to the contrary.

However, Colwill has not always featured in Bellamy’s Wales squads despite playing a starring role in Cardiff’s League One promotion bid and their quarter-final EFL Cup run.

“Rubin is able, there’s still one or two bits that we need more from, but he’s capable,” insists Bellamy who has plenty of other reasons to be a regular at Cardiff City Stadium.

“For the first time in a long, long time, I’ve really enjoyed coming away from Cardiff games with a smile,” he added.

“Last year was difficult, the atmosphere was down, but now I get to see a number of Welsh young players playing in a way I like.

“I only see them improving and selfishly I just see that this is going to benefit the country, so I’m over the moon with that.”