DAN JAMES is certainly no Czech mate.
The Leeds new boy nodded in a late winner when Tomas Soucek and Co were beaten in Cardiff back in May.
And on Friday night he popped up with another crucial goal in Prague to grab what could be a vital point for Wales’ World Cup qualification hopes.
James may have had to make way for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United in the summer – but he remains a key man for his country.
And nobody was more grateful to him on Friday night than keeper Danny Ward whose second half howler could otherwise have proved costly.
These two were neck and neck in the race for second place in Group E but crucially Wales have a game in hand.
And there is no doubt this draw suits Rob Page’s men more than their opponents.
The Czechs have lost just two of their last 16 home qualifiers – with the last one coming to Germany four years ago.
So it was a big ask for a team beset by injuries – including one to their skipper and talisman Gareth Bale.
At least they had Aaron Ramsey back – featuring in this qualifying campaign for the first time and taking the armband.
An eventful night in which the Juventus man scored at both ends began with a yellow card within 30 seconds – for a flailing arm on Filip Novak.
The first big chance of the night went at the other end as star man Patrick Schik – who was sent off when these teams met in Cardiff in March – found himself in space.
He laid the ball off to Jakub Pesek whose low shot was saved smartly by Danny Ward.
But Wales began to take charge with James taking advantage of a mix up and cutting in from the left but blasting his shot over the bar.
A superb ball on the turn from Ramsey opened up the Czechs and suddenly the Dragons were two on one bearing down on goal.
James dallied for slightly too long before releasing Kieffer Moore and he never looked confident as his shot was saved by Tomas Vaclik.
It was a huge chance missed but Wales took heart from it – and they did take the lead soon after the half hour mark.
Neco Williams whipped over a cross from the right which just eluded the head of the on-rushing James – and his marker.
It reached Ramsey at the back post and he calmly sat Vaclik down before rolling the ball into the far corner.
The former Arsenal man has a habit of scoring big goals for Wales over the years. The two he got in his last qualifier – against Hungary two years ago – clinched a place at Euro 2020.
It looked briefly like he might be Wales man for the big occasion again – but not for long.
Just over a minute later the Czechs got in behind the visitors defence and Novak’s angled shot was pushed out by Ward.
Williams slipped as he tried to turn and Pesek had the simple task of turning home the rebound.
It was a poor goal to concede particularly so soon after taking the lead but overall Page would have been happy with his team’s first half show.
Three minutes after the break though, disaster struck.
Ramsey won the ball back on the edge of his own box and sent a firm back pass towards his keeper Ward.
The Leicester understudy went for it with the outside of his foot and somehow – inexplicably – failed to control it.
He desperately tried to salvage the situation sliding back and kicking it against the inside of the post – but both he and the ball ended up in the back of the net.
It was a horror moment for the former Huddersfield keeper who has played so well since taking over from Wayne Hennessey as Wales number one.
And poor Ramsey was credited with an own goal when he didn’t do much wrong.
Now it was upto Wales to try to get back into it and both Connor Roberts and Harry Wilson were thrown on to give them some fresh impetus.
And it was the Fulham midfielder who teed up the equaliser – sliding a ball through the Czech defence into the path of James.
The Leeds new boy was just onside and coolly lifted his right-footed shot over Vaclik into the corner.
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It could have got even better for the Dragons as Wilson again found the pass to put Ramsey in but his shot from a narrow angle hit the legs of the Czech keeper.
Then a cross by Roberts picked out Moore but his downward header was just beyond the reach of Ramsey.
A win would not have flattered the Dragons and would have kept their faint hopes of topping the group alive – but in the circumstances this is a very useful point.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
