Turkey 0-0 Wales: Penalty miss was justice served – Bellamy
Referee Juan Martinez Munuela’s penalty call and Akturkoglu’s error brought drama to Saturday’s exciting goalless draw.
Although Turkey controlled much of the game in front of a hostile home crowd, Wales posed a threat of their own with Jordan James’ goal disallowed and Harry Wilson hitting the post.
It was a commendable performance in a testing environment, with Bellamy maintaining the Wales boss’ unbeaten start after five games.
The former captain said beforehand that Wales would know “a lot more” about themselves and their qualification for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after the game in Turkey, and the incident in Kayseri confirmed that view.
“(I) learned a lot (about the team),” Bellamy said. “Defensively we were very good so that’s down to the previous manager. We were really tough and put our lives on the line.
“I knew it was going to be a little bit painful today, it was a tough game against a very strong opponent. Can we improve on the ball control? Are our angles, timing right? That’s where we need to improve.”
Bellamy added that he also learned some valuable lessons about himself as a manager.
“I tried to stay calm, but it was difficult, especially at the end. You don’t want to be on an (emotional) rollercoaster,” he said.
“I think maybe one or two times I was like that but I didn’t like it so I needed to learn from it and improve from it. I said to the players that I also need to improve. Turkey can create a test of the atmosphere and hopefully that will It benefits me and the players.”
