Tuesday's briefing: Bellamy defiant after Wales loss as Scotland bounce back
Meanwhile, Tottenham continue to close in on Brentford's Thomas Frank as their new boss and appear willing to meet the latter's £10million release clause to get their man.
England look to shrug off their struggle to sink minnows Andorra with head coach Thomas Tuchel aware there is plenty of room for improvement ahead of their clash with Senegal.
Bellamy's pride in Lions
⏰ FT | 🇧🇪 4-3 🏴
An enthralling encounter comes to an end in Brussels.
💻 https://t.co/529qAkQK2M pic.twitter.com/VWxdPq7nr4
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) June 9, 2025
Craig Bellamy refused to be downhearted after tasting defeat for the first time as Wales boss after an extraordinary seven-goal thriller in Belgium.
Wales clawed back from 3-0 down to draw level in a match blighted by lengthy VAR checks before Kevin De Bruyne broke the visitors' hearts by sealing a late 4-3 win for the hosts.
The defeat meant Wales were knocked off the top of World Cup qualifying group J by North Macedonia, following their 1-0 win in Kazakhstan.
But Bellamy said: 'There's a lot of life in this group and today I saw a lot of life in this team. We aren't going anywhere.
'I will have a couple of weeks now of recharging, but I'm beyond proud and really excited about the future.'
Clarke's delight as Scots get back on track
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke was satisfied with the way his side bounced back from their 3-1 defeat to Iceland at Hampden Park as they strolled to a 4-0 friendly win in Liechtenstein.
Having only scored once in his 19 previous internationals, Che Adams hit a hat-trick and George Adams grabbed his first international goal to restore a mood of optimism in the Scotland camp.
'Our players had a little bit of anger in the performance at the start of the game – they knew that they'd let themselves down in the previous match,' said Clarke.
'So, to start well and get the early goal makes it more comfortable and it's nice to build on that with another three goals. Teams maybe win here but not too many come and score four goals.'
Tuchel wants England improvement
Thomas Tuchel has conceded England still have plenty of improvements to make as they prepare to face Senegal in a friendly at Wembley.
The new head coach was far from pleased with the way his side laboured to a 1-0 win against minnows Andorra in their World Cup qualifier at the weekend.
Ahead of their clash with the African side, Tuchel said: 'We need to improve, for sure. We need to improve in connections, in support, in interactions in the group.
'I feel we are too isolated on the pitch. We have not clicked yet. I don't see it has clicked between the players.
'We haven't done that yet, but it's also not the moment to look only on the negative side. We have a lot of positives to take away in training and in the sessions I see a lot of it, and it will obviously take a little bit to translate it to the pitch.'
Spurs close in on Frank
Tottenham are closing in on making Brentford boss Thomas Frank their next head coach, the PA news agency understands.
Spurs sacked Ange Postecoglou on Friday, despite Europa League success, and quickly set their sights on Frank – who has gained admirers for his work over an impressive seven-year period at the west London club.
After positive discussions over the weekend, there is a growing confidence that Frank – whose contract contains a release clause reported to be in the region of £10million – will be the man to replace Postecoglou.
In the zone 💫 pic.twitter.com/TIOncriayJ
— England (@England) June 9, 2025
England face Senegal in a Wembley friendly as Thomas Tuchel continues to survey his options for their continuing World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Republic of Ireland are in friendly action in Luxembourg while Northern Ireland host Scotland's recent conquerors Iceland at Windsor Park.
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