One step forward, two steps back for Wales

Wales have endured a difficult few years in attempting to qualify for both EURO 2000™ and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, demonstrating just how much the national team have declined since their heart-breaking failure of 1993 when Paul Bodin’s missed spot-kick against Romania effectively cost his side a place at USA 94.

Hard start
Beginning their campaign for a trip to the Low Countries under the guidance of Bobby Gould, Wales started with a tough encounter against Dino Zoff’s Italy at Anfield Stadium in September 1998 The match hinted at how the team's Group One qualifying campaign would pan out: a promising beginning but no end product as strikes from Diego Fuser and Christian Vieri consigned them to defeat.

Came from behind
The disappointment of losing their opening game was soon forgotten, however, as Gould steered Wales to two successive wins, a excellent 2-1 victory in the Parken Stadium against Denmark - and this despite going a goal down early in the second half - followed by a home win over Belarus, a team that Wales would meet three more times over the coming three years. As against Denmark, the Welsh had to come from behind, winning through goals from centre-backs Chris Coleman and Kit Symons.

Change of coach
These two wins gave Wales genuine hope that they could compete with Denmark and Switzerland for second position in the group and gain a place in the play-offs. That hope was extinguished over their next three ties, however, which produced no points and no goals either. Two Stéphane Chapuisat strikes were enough for Switzerland to beat Wales in Zurich in March 1999 and things went from bad to worse three months later with a 4-0 reverse in Italy, which signalled the end of Gould's tenure as manager. Four days later there was more of the same when Denmark proved too strong for a side led by caretaker coaches Mark Hughes and Neville Southall – the visitors winning with two goals in the final six minutes.

Falling short
With qualification now all but impossible, Wales used their final two matches in Group One as preparation for their subsequent World Cup qualifying campaign under newly appointed coach Hughes. The new era began on a positive note with victory in Belarus - something that was to prove beyond them during their next qualifying campaign.

Experienced duo
The experienced attacking duo of Dean Saunders and Ryan Giggs (his sixth goal in 25 internationals) scored the goals after Wales had yet again fallen behind in a game. But a far more experienced Swiss team, chasing Denmark down for second place in the group, again showed what a tough task Hughes was facing by exposing defensive weaknesses in the home team and leaving Wrexham with a 2-0 win. The defeat left Wales fourth in the five-team group, five points off a play-off slot and six behind group winners Italy.

Attacking promise
The qualifying campaign for EURO 2000™ had shown up Wales' defensive deficiencies, with a massive 16 goals conceded in their eight matches played, more than any other team in the group. However, further up the field, Hughes could call on the attacking prowess of Giggs, Craig Bellamy, Gary Speed and John Hartson.

Four consecutive draws
Come the World Cup qualifiers, Wales were pitted in Group Six against old foes Belarus, Norway, Ukraine, Armenia and Poland They made a poor start, losing 2-0 in Belarus and four consecutive draws followed. Those draws – at home to Norway and Ukraine and away to Poland and Armenia - left Hughes satisfied that he was making progress, although four points from five games left Wales with an almighty task to even finish second in the group.

Beaten by Poland
If Wales were to maintain any hope of making it through to the World Cup the following summer then they had to defeat group leaders Poland at home on 2 June 2001. A Nathan Blake goal on 15 minutes lifted a massive Millennium Stadium crowd to near fever pitch, but it was the same old story in the end as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat.

Final victory
Wales went on to draw their fifth and sixth games of their qualifying campaign against Ukraine and Armenia, demonstrating that at least Hughes was making them a hard team to beat. Further signs of improvement came in their final two qualifiers: a gutsy display in Oslo, where they led twice before going down 3-2, and a 1-0 victory over Belarus, their first of the campaign. From two fewer games, Wales finished with the same points total as in their qualifying campaign for EURO 2000™ - albeit a distant 12 points behind Poland.