Football: Wales expose Fifa rankings

AT least the new Welsh Assembly has been given a signal how to improve the standing of the national football team. Simply secede from the United Kingdom, supply Glamorgan cricketers for the West Indies and join the American nations in Concacaf.

The starkest message that came out of an unfulfilling 0-0 draw between Wales and Jamaica is the world rankings are a joke. Friendlies can send out misleading signals but no amount of smoke could disguise the fact that there should not be a 70-place disparity between the two countries.

Wales (107) would have beaten Jamaica (33) 4-0 if all the chances had been taken at Ninian Park on Wednesday. It left Bobby Gould brandishing Exhibit A in a case of injustice. "How can the US be ahead of Holland?" the Welsh manager asked. "Please, tell the world the truth, Fifa [world football's governing body] have got it wrong.

"It's not fair to us, we get judged by those rankings. If you are going to play more games in Africa, if you're going to play in America they're going to get more points. If the opposition they're playing isn't as good as that Wales has to face then we're being punished."

Jamaica, naturally, demurred, reasoning that meeting the giants of Canada in Toronto is on a par to playing Germany in Munich, but Cardiff did little to suggest that the over-hyped Reggae Boyz will be anything but a brief novelty act in France 98. The conditions, cold and wet, were not what they would have ordered but, as anyone who has watched tennis at Roland Garros can confirm, it is not always glorious sunshine in France in June.

Their defence, frequently chaotic, was blatantly unhappy under the high ball while they gave away possession with abandon, prompting the impression that World Cup opponents could lie back and wait for mistakes. "We didn't expect Wales to play on the fifth floor," lamely complained the coach, Rene Samoes, about the number of headers his players had to deal with.

Peter Cargill is a splendid playmaker and Clifton Waugh, who had Jamaica's only accurate shot - in the 70th minute - looked a lively striker but, if it had not been for the exuberant masses dressed in black, green and gold the visitors would have been anonymous. Nice crowd, shame about the team is not a ringing endorsement to take to the World Cup.

The main Welsh gain from the evening was the finding of a left-back, a position that has been a problem since Paul Bodin vacated it. Darren Barnard confirmed the promise he has shown at Barnsley this season.

The night also might be remembered as the beginning of a international career of 18-year-old Craig Bellamy who was introduced as a substitute to become the third youngest Welsh international after Ryan Giggs and John Charles.

Wales still produce players. It is moulding them into a team that is a problem, not helped by a world ranking that induces an inferiority complex. The sooner a continent-by-continent system is introduced the better.