CHWARAEON World Cup Heartbreak for Wales
England sail through to the knockout stage, sending Wales home after an emphatic 3-0 victory. Jasmine Jones Head of Sport
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fter an underwhelming first two matches for Wales, their world cup dreams hung in the balance ahead of the final group stage game against England. In Wales’ first World Cup since 1958, Rob Page and his team had much to prove, and a whole nation rooting for them back home. Drawing against the USA, and losing against Iran left Wales with a mountain to climb and ultimately proved too much for the team that achieved Welsh history. To get through to the round of 16 Wales needed to secure the win against England and hope that Iran vs USA ended in a draw. If the other group match ended in anything other than a draw, Wales then needed to beat England by at least 4 goals. Alterations to the starting eleven were made by both teams ahead of the fixture, with Wales bringing in Joe Allen England dominated the first half, but Wales’ defensive effort was strong and the teams were still level going into the break.
and Dan James to replace Connor Roberts and Harry Wilson. Danny Ward also started after Wayne Hennessey’s straight red card in the previous game against Iran. England made significant changes from their underwhelming draw against the USA, with Henderson, Foden, Rashford, and Walker all starting. England dominated the first half, but Wales’ defensive effort was strong and the teams were still level going into the break. Wales’ first attack came just before half time with a strike from Allen but this led to a quick counter attack from Rashford whose spectacular overhead kick went wide of the goal. The first blow for Wales came shortly after when Neco Williams went off with a suspected concussion being replaced by Connor Roberts. Main man Gareth Bale was substituted at half time after making only one successful pass in the 45 to the shock of many fans speculating whether this will be his final tournament for Wales. 5 minutes into the second half it all fell apart for Wales. Rashford scored from a thundering free kick sending England into the lead and not a minute later Phil Foden made it 2-0 with a tap-in that highlighted Wales’ poor defence. England could breathe again knowing
Source: Jon Candy (via Flickr) surely this would send them straight through to the knockouts. Wales were left defeated and the red wall left heartbroken. To add insult to injury Rashford scored again in the 68th minute, making him a prime contender for the golden boot. The final whistle came as a welcome relief to Wales after a solemn and underwhelming performance. The tournament that was set to make history is now over for Wales almost as soon as
it started and it is unknown what the future of this Welsh squad will look like. Now looking ahead to the start of the Euro 2024 qualifiers in the Spring, changes must surely be made to revitalise the spirit of a team who have achieved so much in the last decade. One thing that’s certain is that despite the heartbreak, the whole nation is incredibly proud of our boys for making it to our first world cup in 64 years. We will be there again.
Rohan Kakar looks back at the incredible sporting talent Cardiff University has produced.
Sport Editor
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ere at Cardiff University, we love our sport. We take part in Varsities with plenty of other Universities such as Swansea and Bristol and we are great at what we do. In fact, over the years, Cardiff University has been home to some remarkable athletes and sportspeople that have graced the internationally competitive stage. Did you know that these famous athletes went to Cardiff? Taking it all the way back to the early 19th century it is no surprise that the first notable name on this list is a rugby player. Wales love their rugby and so do we here at Cardiff (we’re very good at it too!) and one of the finest Welsh centre’s in history Jack Matthews studied medicine here at Cardiff in the early year of 1938. Jack Matthews was an integral part of five Victory Internationals for Wales, and he captained the side in a historic win against France. Matthews played seventeen tests for Wales and six for the British Lions before he was swiftly taken to fight in World War Two. Matthews returned from the war and thus became involved in working in the medical teams for boxing as One of the finest Welsh centre’s in history Jack Matthews studied medicine here at Cardiff in the early year of 1938.
well as being team doctor for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa. Matthews played club rugby for Cardiff and along with Gleddyn Williams formed what is widely regarded as one of the best centre pairings in Welsh rugby history. Moving forward in time, Richard Parks is one of the most faParks played Back row for six clubs such as Newport RFC and Celtic Warriors, and in his early days was one of Wales’s most promising prospects.
mous on this list, a rugby union player who played across thirteen years and represented Wales internationally he is a widely regarded graduate of Cardiff University. Parks played Back row for six clubs such as Newport RFC and Celtic Warriors, and in his early days was one of Wales’s most promising prospects. He was forced to retire in 2009 due to a shoulder injury but he continued his sporting interests, with a developing interest in extreme endurance. Parks, who graduated with a degree in Dental Surgery in 2000, was the first person to complete the 737 challenge. This means that Parks climbed up the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents. This was an incredible feat that was filmed for television and earned him an honorary degree at Cardiff in 2013. Parks then became an endurance television presenter hosting shows such as “Extreme
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Jasmine Jones
What Cardiff Alumni are professional? Rohan Kakar
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Wales with Richard Parks”. Parks’ 737 challenge raised thousands of pounds for Marie Curie, and he has since been heralded as one of Wales’s most inspiring and influential men. We can move from heroism into modernism, as we can talk about some of the more recent graduates who have recently plied their trade for Team GB in Tokyo 2020. Rupert Shipperly had a long road to the Tokyo games, having graduated with a degree in Human Geography and Planning in 2014 he became a teacher for four years but gave up and started pursuing his dreams. Shipperly, at the age of 28, finally made it into the Team GB hockey team and took part in the Olympics for the first time in 20 years. The team beat the current world champions Belgium in Rupert Shipperly had a long road to the Tokyo games, having graduated with a degree in Human Geography and Planning in 2014
their group but got knocked out in the final eight to India, they showed though that they had more to come with Shipperly in the team. Wales only had one representative in the athletics team in Tokyo and he was Jake Heyward, a 1500m runner who graduated in 2021 in Business. Heyward ran in 2020 with an Achilles injury but still made the final of the tournament, placing ninth overall, and since the Olympics has won silver in the 2022 European Athletics Championship. At the ripe age of 23, the Cardiff native has plenty more Olympics up his sleeve and could hope to win big in 2024. This is a selected list from a plethora of past and present athletes that have come through Cardiff University, all with a variety of degrees, many of them only getting better. Given the exciting sporting talent that is developing within the ranks of Cardiff University, we can only hope that there are more sportspeople to come and represent us at Cardiff on the international stage. Could it be you or one of your friends? We sure hope so…
Ryan Harris-Jewell
Eloise Martin
Rohan Kakar
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Source: Jeremy Segrott (via Flickr)
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