Bellamy builds for Wales' future in 'toughest' week

Craig Bellamy has six wins, four draws and two defeats as Wales head coach

Anybody who has had to train for an endurance event - or is even vaguely familiar with buzzwords of the corporate world - will know about the concept of getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

For athletes, it represents the process of learning to cope with long, draining physical exertions, while in business terms it might be the exposure to new and challenging experiences.

Craig Bellamy might have had both iterations in mind when he used the phrase as part of his explanation for choosing Canada as friendly opponents for his Wales side on Tuesday.

The head coach got what he asked for - and then some - as his youthful, much-changed team were beaten by next year's World Cup co-hosts.

"This has been the toughest week, but it's been really enjoyable because you have to be flexible and you have to be able to adapt. It's been different," Bellamy said after the 1-0 defeat in Swansea.

"We need to play top teams. We need to play them because of the speed, the transition, all these moments, the physicality. We have to move the ball quicker, we have to make decisions quicker and that's what we need to be exposed to.

"That's what I believe top players are able to do and on a consistent basis. And surely playing at the top level allows you to expose our players to that. And this was the opportunity of being able to do that today.

"I still wanted to win, trust me. I'm really not happy because I hate losing more than I like winning."

This was Bellamy's first friendly in charge of Wales, and he picked Canada - three places higher than his side in the world rankings - because he wanted to expose his fringe players to a standard they may not have previously encountered.

There were three debuts in Swansea - Ronan Kpakio from the start, midfielders Joel Colwill and Kai Andrews as substitutes - to go with Dylan Lawlor's impressive first international appearance in Kazakhstan the previous Thursday.

Given Wales' limited resources, it is essential their player pool is expanded.

But while they were having to turn to their inexperienced players, some from League One clubs, Canada were able to pick a strong line-up with only two enforced changes from their 3-0 win in Romania last Friday.

"I don't do excuses. I don't talk about process and this and that. I'm in the here and now, I want to win," said Bellamy.

"But also it was Charlie Crew's first start, Ronan Kpakio's debut, Kai Andrews' debut, Joel Colwill's debut, and we had one or two fringe players. It was nice for me to give them the opportunity because they haven't had that opportunity to play because every game I've had there has been points on it.

"I needed to see the squad as well and I needed to see what they picked up with us. Can they play in our way? And I have to be honest, I was very impressed with that.

"But that speed of securing balls and seeing pressure, coming up with the ball, some of our boys have never been exposed to that. The league they're in, they're not going to get exposed to that. This is a jump.

"And then you have a captain in Ben Davies, who was incredible. They got a proper example today. You want to see an international footballer? You want to see what the international stage is? Hopefully, this will help them become top players for Wales in the future. But I want them now."

'See you at the World Cup!'

Bellamy says he does not believe there is such thing as a friendly, in the sense that there is a significance to every fixture.

Canada appeared to be of the same belief. As joint hosts of next year's World Cup, Jesse Marsch's side do not need to qualify so they are using friendlies like these as preparation instead of officially competitive matches.

The result was this encounter was played with much more of an edge than a typical friendly, with seven yellow cards - including one for former Leeds United boss Marsch - as tempers flared on and off the field.

Bellamy and his staff were irked that their Canadian counterparts were celebrating before the final whistle and, although the mutual respect from both camps was clear, the Wales head coach hopes to renew that rivalry at next summer's World Cup.

"I see them celebrating at the end, I'm like: 'I hope I see you at the World Cup. I hope I see you again,'" Bellamy said.

"But I have to also be gracious, thank Jesse. I don't want to get used to it but I have to take it on the chin. It was more like, please, celebrate after the whistle."