Wales v Cyprus

I was fortunate enough to win a press pass ticket for the mouth-watering international tie between Wales v Cyprus. I love football and although, Wales had been pummelled five-one by the Slovaks on the previous Saturday, I was immensely looking forward to the event rather the match. I've trotted to the Millennium Stadium on numerous occasions to watch Manchester United but to be among fellow journalists in the best seats in the house for the first time was a thrill.

Law duties forced me to arrive at the stadium during the second half of the England v Croatia match. All the press in the media office had their eyes glued to events in Zagreb so any hope of blagging contacts came and went. Of course, Robinson's blooper was the main talking point.

Wales won the match 3-1 and played reasonably well considering the situation, although, it was a shame not to witness the skills of Ryan Giggs.

Immediately, after the final whistle, I tried to have a conversation with one of the Welsh press (I won't mention the paper, Newport...) but, due to his embarrassment, he wasn't having any of it, so I left it. I went to the manager's press conference where John Toshack attempted to humour his Cypriot counterpart which made the hacks laugh. All in all, the questioning was fairly straightforward with Toshack believing that Wales can still qualify. Somehow, I doubt it.