Late Ramsey leveller mutes Belgium celebrations

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium ended their campaign on a muted note on Tuesday as a late strike by Aaron Ramsey secured a 1-1 draw for Wales, dampening home celebrations to mark the country's qualification for a first World Cup in 12 years.

Late Ramsey leveller mutes Belgium celebrations

(Reuters)





After already booking their ticket to Brazil with Friday's 2-1 win in Croatia, the Group A winners threatened only sporadically for the first hour against a well-organised Welsh defence.

It took until the 64th minute for Kevin De Bruyne to break the deadlock, latching on to a pass from Romelu Lukaku and drilling the ball into the far left corner.

Belgium had chances to increase their lead through Kevin Mirallas and Lukaku but with two minutes left, Ramsey, in prolific scoring form for Arsenal in the Premier League this season, took a pass from Craig Bellamy to prod beyond Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois.

The match, attended by Belgian King Philip and with a concert at halftime, was virtually sterile for the first 35 minutes, with just a single shot on goal from Lukaku.

The game sprang into life in the final minutes before the break as Belgium laid siege to the Wales penalty area with Toby Alderweireld's striking the crossbar.

Wales, with Bellamy playing his final international, pressed slightly further forward before Belgium brought on midfielder Eden Hazard to add extra bite to their attack.

Tuesday's draw should keep Belgium in sixth spot in FIFA's world rankings, meaning they will go to the World Cup as one of the eight seeded teams and see them avoid big guns like hosts Brazil and world champions Spain.

Belgium were ranked 53rd in the world when qualification began last September.

Wales finished the campaign with only Macedonia below them in the six-team group, but a bit of history was made on Tuesday when late substitute Harry Wilson became the nation's youngest player at 16 years and 207 days.

The Liverpool Academy midfielder beat the world's most expensive player Gareth Bale's record by 108 days.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Justin Palmer)


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