Wales coach Rob Page says that most of his players were subpar as they lost 2-0 to Iran on Friday, and he urged a quick response.
Wales lost 2-0 to Iran on FridayHave one point from two gamesPage admits team were “not quite at it”
WHAT HAPPENED? Two late goals for Iran secured a vital three points against Wales, who saw goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey sent off for a reckless challenge on Mehdi Taremi. The result leaves Page’s team with one point from two World Cup matches and he admits that qualification for the knockout stages is out of their control.
WHAT THEY SAID: “We can’t sit and cry about it. We want to give our supporters something to cheer about,” he told reporters. “We’ll bounce back, we’ll pick them up and go again. We weren’t in the game at all. Even in the first half, before the sending-off … you can carry one or two players if there are off-days but when the majority of the team are not quite at it there is only going to be one outcome, unfortunately. [Qualifying for the next round] is out of our hands now.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Wales must beat England in their final game of the group and hope that the other match between United States and Iran goes their way.
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DID YOU KNOW? Hennessey is just third goalkeeper to be sent off in a World Cup, following Gianluca Pagliuca for Italy against Norway in 1994 and Itumeleng Khune for South Africa against Uruguay in 2010.
WHAT NEXT FOR WALES? Page’s men round off the group stage with a game against England on November 29.
