Bellamy: Off the mark

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• West Ham United

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• Craig Bellamy

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Craig Bellamy admits his goal against Denmark on Wednesday came as a welcome relief.

The Wales striker had not scored for his country since 2007 heading into the Copenhagen contest, and had only found the target once this season for West Ham.

He squandered two golden chances early on in the midweek friendly encounter, but bounced back to seal a 1-0 win with a low drive 13 minutes from time.

He said: "The goal was a weight off my shoulders.

"Since I have been back from my last injury I have been creating chances, particularly in club matches, but have not had that final little bit of form.

Bonus

"I needed that goal, even if it was a rather scruffy contact. I have had a lot of efforts on goal in the last few club games, chances have not been a problem but putting them away has been.

"So to get myself a goal at this level is a big bonus after all the injury problems I have had.

"It is important that I play well, there is no point giving out advice and putting an arm around youngsters when you are not doing it on the pitch yourself.

"My aim has been to work as hard as I can, conduct myself in a professional manner and hope some of that rubs off on the younger players."

Quality

Bellamy was once again named captain of his country by national coach John Toshack, providing an experienced head in a group of talented teenagers.

While that young squad may currently lack the maturity to challenge the world's best sides, Bellamy believes the astounding progress made by the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Chris Gunter bodes well for the future.

"We have run top quality teams like Russia and Germany very close in qualifiers, this was a friendly but it is still an important win," he added.

"The lads had a great attitude. They ran and chased and worked hard for each other. The performance had quality.

Problem

"There are a lot of young boys who are starting to play for their country and trying to make their mark, so this win has been a real bonus.

"We have been trying for this sort of result for a long time. Our efforts have never been lacklustre, never been lacking in effort, but for a small nation it is hard.

"But many Wales teams better than us over the years have been searching for top-level victories.

"This has been a big problem, so we all have our fingers crossed and hope we can take it further."