Anguish: Craig Bellamy reacts to Vucinic's goalJames Collins suffered a suspected broken cheekbone as Wales were deservedly beaten on a night to forget for their angry manager John Toshack.
Aston Villa defender Collins was struck in the face by a Miodrag Dzudovic elbow and will have tests this morning to find the extent of the damage.
Toshack was angry at the failure of the match officials to spot the challenge, which left Collins in agony 20 minutes from the end of a testy evening here in the Montenegran capital.
‘I’d like to see the incident again — his eye is in a mess,’ said Toshack.
‘You don’t get that sort of injury by falling on the floor. Things like that don’t just happen by accident.’
It was a miserable evening for centre back Collins, who was at fault for Mirko Vucinic’s winner on the half-hour.
The Roma forward overcame a weak Collins tackle to burst in from the left.
With players queuing up in the centre, he chose to take aim himself. It proved a good decision.
The ball beat Wayne Hennessey at his near post, flying into the net off a post.
The goal had been coming. After a steady start, Montenegro’s forward ran riot, creating umpteen chances.
And it could — probably should — have been worse for Wales by the interval.
Toshack added: ‘There was too much space in the middle of the park. We didn’t get to grips with that at all. We couldn’t get into the areas that suited us, despite having the numbers to make that difference.
'There was no snapping from us and their lads seemed to want it more than we did.
‘There were mistakes for the goal and there were others we got away with.’
Vucinic’s movement was too much for Wales and the game slipped away. Try as they might, the visitors could not find a way back against a side managed by Zlatko Kranjcar, father of Tottenham’s Niko.
Only in the final quarter of the game did Wales begin to press. Until then, neither Craig Bellamy nor Gareth Bale had caused concern to Montenegro’s back-line.
Frustration: Wales coach John Toshack (centre) watches the action from the touchlineToshack threw on Robert Earnshaw and Simon Church in a desperate gamble and it almost came up trumps.
As the game became stretched Bellamy teed up Earnshaw, only for Mladen Bozovic to deny the forward with his first meaningful save.
Four minutes from time, Sam Ricketts swung over a cross that Church headed against the bar.
And Wales went closer still at the death.
Earnshaw again was at the heart of the action. This time Bozovic could only parry his shot and Church poked home the rebound, only for his celebrations to be cut short by a flag for offside
Triumph: Montenegro's players celebrate their hard-fought win‘It’s very, very disappointing to come off with a defeat,’ said Toshack.
‘It was a courageous performance from Montenegro. At the end, they were throwing their bodies in the way of everything.
‘Bulgaria is now a game we must win, otherwise we won’t have too much of a chance (of qualifying).
'We have Switzerland and England coming up after that. Those are two tough matches.’
Tussle: Gareth Bale (left) is challenged by Montenegro's Miodrag DzudovicMontenegro (4-4-2): M Bozovic 6; Pavicevic 6, Dzudovic 6, Basa 6, Jovanovic 5; Vukcevic 7 (Beciraj 88min), Zverotic 6, Pekovic 6, Boskovic 6 (V Bozovic 74, 6); Vucinic 8, Djalovic 6 (Novakovic 83).
Subs not used: Blazic, Batak, Savic, Delibasic.
Booked: Pavicevic, Pekovic, Dzudovic.
Wales (4-3-3): Hennessey 5; Ricketts 5, Collins 5, (Morgan 75, 6), Williams 7, Gunter 6; Edwards 5, (Earnshaw 68, 6), Vaughan 6, Ledley 6; Bale 6, Morison 6 (Church 79), Bellamy 6.
Subs not used: Myhill, Evans, King, Cotterill.
Booked: Ricketts, Morison, Bale.
Man of the match: Mirko Vucinic.
Referee: Anastasios Kakos (Greece) 7.
source: dailymail
