Football: Giggs relieves the tension

Wales. . . .2

Albania. . .0

WALES were able to banish one of the most demoralising and traumatic episodes in their history last night, but the feeling remains that their qualification campaign in the European Championship will be a long and difficult one. It took an exquisite free-kick from Ryan Giggs to ease their passage in Cardiff after Albania had proved more menace than mystery.

Following recent upheavals - the disappointment of narrowly failing to reach the World Cup and the upheaval created by the departures of Terry Yorath and John Toshack - it was essential for Mike Smith's side to start with a win and a satisfactory performance. They had the benefit of an early goal, but laboured unconvincingly to press home their advantage against opposition both disciplined and highly committed.

Straight from the kick-off, Ledio Pano shot directly at Neville Southall from 50 yards. There were other chances, more threatening, but Albania immediately unfurled their blanket defence and invited Wales to come forward. They did so, meeting with initial success in the 10th minute when Ryan Giggs' corner found Chris Coleman. The Crystal Palace defender headed powerfully downwards for his third goal in only five international appearances.

Wales continued to enjoy the greater possession, but a second breakthrough was not forthcoming. They frequently ran into a solid wall of white shirts and stood off too often in their own defensive areas, allowing Albania to grow in spirit and confidence. Before the interval, Southall spread himself to save well from Suklejman Demollari - a warning of what was to come.

'I'm pleased with the result but not the performance,' Smith said. 'Ask the Albanians what they thought of our young defence. We gave them four clear opportunities and that's not good enough.'

The second of those came when Salvador Kacaj, sent clean through, rolled his shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat. It was the worst moment of a far from satisfactory night from a Welsh perspective, and it was hard to visualise Germany or Bulgaria, the favoured sides in Group Seven, not enforcing punishment in a similar situation.

The relief was audible when Giggs took precise aim from 25 yards just past the hour mark, beating both the protective wall and the outstretched hand of Fato Strakosha.

WALES (4-4-2): Southall (Everton); Williams (Reading), Melville (Sunderland), Coleman (Crystal Palace), Bodin (Swindon); Phillips (Nottingham Forest), Goss (Norwich City), Speed (Leeds), Giggs (Manchester United); Rush (Liverpool), Blake (Sheffield United). Substitutes: Pembridge (Derby) for Goss, 75; Roberts (Leicester City) for Blake, 80.

ALBANIA (5-4-1): Strakosha (Olympiakos); Shulku (Tirana), Xhumba (Janina), Vata (Celtic), Kacaj (Olympia Cyprus), A Kola (Athinaikos); Bellai (Janina), Pano (Skoda), B Kola (Tirana), Demollari (Dynamo Bucharest); Shehu (Shibenik). Substitutes: Fortuzi (Tirana) for A Kola, 53; Dosti (Olympia Slovena) for Shehu, 82.

Referee: G Beschin (Italy).