‘Stonewall’: Rob Page rages after Wales denied penalty against Turkey
Wales manager Rob Page ahead of kick off. Wales v Latvia in a UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium on the 28th March 2023. Credit: Lewis Mitchell
Rob Page shared his frustration with the officials decisions after Wales drew 1-1 with Turkey in their final European qualifier in Cardiff.
The Wales boss stated he needed to be careful with what he said on the controversial decisions not to award Wales a penalty, before being penalised themselves.
The Wales manager said he ‘can’t get my head around it’ when discussing why VAR didn’t intervene with the decisions.
“It’s probably a stonewall penalty, one of the most obvious penalties I’ve seen for us against Brennan (Johnson), it’s a stonewall penalty.” said Page on the decision.
“We’ve conceded the softest penalty you’ll ever concede, so it’s so frustrating” added Page.
Jordan James on ‘another level’ believes Rob Page
Despite the frustrating result, Page believed that his squad were ‘excellent’ with particular praise on young midfielder Jordan James.
“JJ went to another level today” said Page on the performance of Cymru’s latest breakthrough talent.
“It’s probably the best game he’s had for us tonight” stated the Wales manager on his performance against Turkey.
“I’m a big fan, I think you can all see that, and I’ve trusted in him” added Page.
March play-off
The result now means that Wales will have to settle for a play-off to try and earn a place at next summer’s European Championships in Germany. They will have a home tie in the semi-final.
The Wales boss spoke on the importance of having a home tie first, and how much of an impact the ‘Red Wall’ has on the players.
“I’m pleased that it’s a home draw, you’ve seen it time and time again, what our supporters do is incredible, this place is a fortress, and the crowd never disappoints to support us and help us get the results” said Page.
The 49-year-old believes he has seen enough from his squad over the course of the qualifiers, to go into the play-off fixtures in March and get the results needed to qualify for next summer’s tournament.
“Were confident going for the playoffs, that’s five games now unbeaten, so well be full of confidence coming in to those games.”
“If we can recreate the performance we had against Croatia, home and away, if we can create those levels of performance then we’ll be okay.”
