Craig Bellamy was distraught at his dismissal

Mark Hughes will struggle to take any positives from the performance after Wales were outplayed in most departments.

Belarus always looked the more lively of the two teams and seemed to play the game at a different pace, especially when counter-attacking.

Wales failed to create any real opportunities for themselves as Ryan Giggs was denied enough possession to make a real impact on the match.

Dinamo duo

Wales were undone largely by Belarus' Dinamo Kiev duo of Khatskevich and Belkhevic.

Khatskevich gave Belarus the lead on 40 minutes, but Belkhevich's 55th-minute strike put the game beyond Wales.

He caught the central defenders flat-footed as he squeezed between Coleman and Melville to drill his shot past Jones.

Leading up to the second goal, Wales had enjoyed their best period of the match.

Ryan Giggs volleyed over the bar with his right foot as Wales appeared to be making inroads into the Belarussian defence.

Andy Melville had a header brilliantly saved by keeper Tumilovich, but Belarus always appeared to be soaking up Welsh pressure before hitting them on the break.

They could have scored third and fourth goals - Vasilyuk blasted over the bar from close range and Gareth Roberts appeared to handle the ball as he cleared a further shot off the line.

Paul Jones' error led to Belarus' first goal

Gifted goal

Wales fell behind five minutes before half-time.

Southampton goalkeeper Paul Jones made a dreadful mistake, failing to hold on to a regulation cross from the left wing.

His fumble gave Alexander Khatskevich the simplest of tap-in goals just five minutes from half-time.

Wales had appeared to weather the first-half storm , but Jones' mistake only served to highlight some earlier defensive frailties.

Andy Melville was forced to clear off the line on 14 minutes after Belkhevich had seemed odds-on to score.

AC Roma's right wing, Gurenko, was a constant threat and he consistently found space down the right to hit crosses across the face of the goal.

Wales' best attacks of the first half inevitably involved Ryan Giggs.

His pace posed a constant threat to the Belarussian defence but he was closely watched and never saw enough of the ball.

There were some nice interchanges between Robbie Savage, Giggs and Coventry's new signing Craig Bellamy - but Wales simply couldn't produce the telling final ball into the area.

In the end, Wales paid the price for some woefully indecisive defending and a lack of creativity going forward.