Bellamy and Wales high on self-belief

Cocky striker who refuses to accept second-best is reaping rewards with his country

You can call Craig Bellamy many things, and a lot of people have, but nobody could ever accuse him of accepting second best or selling himself short. Those who had sympathised as they saw him battle criticism, serious injury and initial failure as a Premiership player will have rejoiced after his match-winning extravaganza for Wales against Italy.

Afterwards, in his first interview of a season which began with continuing recuperation after knee surgery and which then embraced a head-butting controversy and subsequent ban from the Champions' League followed by a set-to at training with the Newcastle United coach John Carver, Bellamy talked about the kind of player he wants to become. Alessandro Del Piero and Alan Shearer were the templates he reached for and which are shaping his current ambitions.

Some will be willing him to fail because they find his level of towering self- belief uncomfortable to deal with. They point to the fact that in his early days with Norwich City he attracted derision when it was reported that he saw himself as a similar player to Juninho (he claimed to have been misquoted). Then he was forced to spend an hour locked in the coach toilet en route to an away game after Norwich's senior pros decided to teach the cocky upstart a sharp lesson.

For the 23-year-old, failure is not an option, the drive for professional fulfilment all-consuming. "I am really looking forward to progressing on the international stage and while you can never plan things by the time I am 28 or 29 hopefully I can be a real high-standard footballer like Del Piero" said Bellamy. "I've got to try my hardest in training, do the weights and all the other things. As long as I give myself the opportunity to be the best I possibly can, then I'll be able to hold my head up."

Bellamy has become indispensable to a Welsh team who sit proudly on top of their European Championship qualifying group after following up last month's win in Finland with Wednesday's thrilling victory before an ecstatic Millennium Stadium crowd. He laid on the first goal for Tottenham's Simon Davies with an astute pass, scored the second in dynamic fashion after sprinting away from defenders before rounding Gianluigi Buffon and was then unluckily denied a third when the referee chose to penalise an Italian foul earlier in the move.

Buffon will be relieved to avoid an immediate reunion when Juventus arrive on Tyneside this week to defend their leadership of the Champions' League group, Bellamy serving the second of a three-match suspension. His aggressive running at speed, his control and cleverness in possession helped make it a harrowing evening for the Italians with the central defender Alessandro Nesta a bundle of nerves throughout.

Bellamy was not alone and in Davies Wales have another young talent with self-belief, acceleration and goalscoring verve. John Hartson led the line with muscular power as well as laying on Bellamy's winner with a lovely pass.

Then there's Ryan Giggs, Robbie Savage, who epitomises Welsh refusal to bend to supposedly superior forces, a defence well-organised around Andy Melville's diligence not to mention Paul Jones's two crucial saves in a remarkable reacquaintance with the big stage after a month in Southampton's reserves.

"Everyone has got to play above average to get a result like that," added Bellamy. "It's a different role for me than what I am used to with Newcastle and Ryan and I have to operate as wing-backs at times. I'm willing to sacrifice myself. As long as Wales keep a good team pattern we will be hard to beat."

The spikiness that Newcastle manager Bobby Robson admires – he calls his £6 million signing an "arrogant cuss, always was" – surfaced as Bellamy reminded reporters that only 12 months ago it was being written that in statistical terms Mark Hughes's team were in danger of becoming the worst-ever Welsh side. "We knew we were making progress but we had our own fans sticking two fingers up at us and only 12,000 turned up to see the game with Belarus. As a footballer you expect the bad times as well as the good times. At Coventry I tasted relegation and was dubbed one of the worst players ever but within a season I was collecting the award for the PFA Young Player of the Year. Playing against Italy in a full stadium is what I demand of myself as a footballer."

He was a big miss when the injury removed him from Newcastle's team in February and with him went their trophy ambitions. During his recovery Alan Shearer proved to be a powerful role model as well as the ideal team-mate.

"When you look at his knees and his ankles and see all the scars you realise it is possible to get over problems and still reach the highest level," Bellamy said.