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Page last updated at 06:50 GMT, Friday, 9 October 2009 07:50 UK

Bellamy words fuel Finnish fire

Fifa World Cup Qualifying Group Four - Finland v Wales
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Helsinki Date: Saturday, 10 October Kick-off: 1500 BST Coverage: Exclusively live on BBC TWO Wales and online, full commentary on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and online and live text commentary online


Stuart Baxter
Baxter's Finland cannot qualify for next year's World Cup

Finland coach Stuart Baxter says his players have been fired up by comments made by Wales captain Craig Bellamy after the two sides last met.

Striker Bellamy described both teams as "two poor sides" following Finland's 2-0 victory in Cardiff in March.

"I don't think we'll be needing to add to the motivation before the game," Baxter told BBC Sport Wales.

"There'll be at least a couple of them who'll be breaking the door down to get out there."

Bellamy correctly predicted neither side had a "glimmer of hope" of qualifying for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

And he also took a swipe at opening goal scorer from the 2-0 defeat, Jonatan Johansson saying: "I don't think he is a good enough player to score."

Finland's victory at the Millennium Stadium effectively put pay to Wales' World Cup dream before later falling short themselves.

With qualification out of reach for Wales and Finland, both are now aiming to take third spot behind Russia and leaders Germany.

Wales can finish third if they beat Finland and Liechtenstein four days later and also hope that the Finns lose their final match in Germany.

And John Toshack's Wales have generally performed better away from home in the campaign, losing narrowly in Russia and Germany and winning in Azerbaijan.

"I'm expecting Wales to be on the front foot, they've done well on the road and given some good performances, we'll have to play well to get something out of it," added Baxter.


Wales squad to play Finland and Liechtenstein in World Cup qualifying Group Four matches on 10 and 14 October:

Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey (Wolves), Boaz Myhill (Hull), Lewis Price (Brentford, on loan from Derby)
Defenders: Gareth Bale (Tottenham), James Collins (Aston Villa), Neal Eardley (Blackpool), Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest), Craig Morgan (Peterborough), Lewin Nyatanga (Bristol City), Ashley Williams (Swansea)
Midfielders: David Edwards (Wolves), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), David Vaughan (Blackpool)
Strikers: Craig Bellamy (Manchester City), Simon Church (Reading), Rob Earnshaw (Nottingham Forest), Sam Vokes (Wolves).



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see also
Finland 2-1 Wales
10 Oct 09 |  Internationals
Wales failure hurts star Ramsey
08 Oct 09 |  Internationals
Bellamy writes off Wales chances
28 Mar 09 |  Welsh
Wales 0-2 Finland
28 Mar 09 |  Internationals
Pick your Wales XI
05 Feb 07 |  Internationals
Wales' international fixtures
22 Aug 07 |  Internationals
Wales' results archive
10 Oct 05 |  Internationals
BBC Sport Wales coverage
03 Feb 09 |  Wales
Country profile: Finland
05 Aug 09 |  Country profiles


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