There were two world-class moments from Leeds United players on Thursday but it wasn’t enough.
Leeds United’s Welsh quartet will not get an early return to Thorp Arch this week despite losing their World Cup play-off clash against Bosnia & Herzegovina on penalties.
Ethan Ampadu captained his nation for the play-off semi-final clash in Cardiff, with club-level teammates Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Daniel James also starting. The latter looked to have scored a quite incredible 51st-minute winner, latching onto a loose ball before belting an effort beyond Bosnia’s Nikola Vasilj from all of 30 yards.
Darlow then produced a world class save to deny Bosnia striker Ermedin Demirovic but there was a twist, with the Leeds goalkeeper caught out as Edin Dzeko flicked home a corner with four minutes of normal time to play. It ended 1-1 after 90 and 120 minutes, with Neco Williams and Brennan Johnson missing crucial penalties.
That defeat means Wales’ World Cup hopes are over but despite Darlow, Ampadu and Rodon playing the full 120 minutes on Thursday, they will not get an early return to Leeds. Back in December, the Welsh FA confirmed that in the event of defeat to Bosnia, they will instead play a friendly on Tuesday with teams mandated to play twice during an international break.
A statement at the time read: “If Cymru beat Bosnia & Herzegovina, this will be a play-off final against the other semi-final winner. If Cymru lose to Bosnia & Herzegovina, this will be an international challenge match against the loser of the other semi-final.
“By purchasing tickets for this match, supporters are committed to their tickets regardless of the opposition or the nature of the match. Ticket refunds will not be issued based on the result of Cymru v Bosnia & Herzegovina.”
Leeds trio reaction to defeat
"We're lost for words,” captain for the night Ampadu told Match of the Day Wales. “We prepared as well as we could have and I thought we played well. We can hold our heads up high because we fought for everything, sometimes in life things don't go your way.
"We're always going to look back at what we could have done better, maybe we could have managed the last 10 minutes better to make sure we stayed on the attacking foot. That's something we can look at in the future, but for now it's a lot of disappointment."
James, who is yet to score for Leeds this season, might see Thursday’s goal as the best he’s ever scored but there was no cause for celebration after full-time. The winger was substituted on 85 minutes and therefore did not take a spot-kick.
"It's tough to take, I thought we played really well,” he said. "For them to get a late goal was gutting. I thought we were brilliant in extra time, we worked so hard, and what we should today was how far we have come.
"We'll be back, and thank you to all the fans who have been incredible. It wasn't meant to be tonight, but the boys will be stronger for it."
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Darlow’s stretching save from Demirovic was every bit as good as James’ goal, with the Leeds shot-stopper somehow reaching the ball and then doing enough to turn it round the post. He committed to clearing the Bosnia corner but was beaten to it by the 40-year-old former Manchester City striker Dzeko.
"We're devastated, that's the only word for it,” Darlow reflected. "We've given our everything out there and come this for, unfortunately it wasn't to be tonight. We've played our own brand of football and we can be proud of that.
"It's such a young group full of talented characters, we're devastated tonight but we are growing and you can see that over the last couple years. Hopefully exciting times ahead!”
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