Having stuttered in the opening period of a Belgian onslaught, Wales found themselves in a hole at 3-0 down within half an hour.
Romelu Lukaku’s early penalty would be shortly followed up by Youri Tielemans sumptuous drive, before chief tormentor Jeremy Doku’s jinky run and finish threatened a savage reality check for Bellamy’s side.
Credit would go to the Welsh who fought admirably and gained a lifeline on the stroke of half-time with a spot-kick of their own. Harry Wilson converting confidently for his sixth Welsh goal in eight outings to give the travelling fans something to cheer for.
Galvanised with new-found belief, however, the Welsh would rattle the hosts with the promised attacking nuance that Bellamy had called for pre-match.
Sensing a comeback, Wilson’s excellent cross set up Sorba Thomas to fire in his first international goal past a dumfounded Matz Sels, before pandemonium broke in the away end when Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson nodded in from close-range to level the scoreline.
But it was not to be for the Welsh, who, sensing another remarkable result to match those of years gone by against the Belgians, would fall to a late winner.
Departing Man City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne smashing the ball home to snatch three vital points and send Bellamy and his side to a first defeat in ten games since taking over from Rob Page just under a year ago.
Despite the loss, the Wales boss could not speak more highly of his side’s attitude and commitment to their performance.
“I’m really proud to be their coach,” said Bellamy after the match.
“I’ll have to be honest, to come here [and get back to 3-3], I hope now from the second half they can see what they can do.
“They have to understand how good they are. That was pleasing, it gives us the belief to be the team we want to be.
“We didn’t cope with the momentum in the first half when the penalty went against us and we really suffered.
“Then when we gained a penalty, that gained gave us that belief.
“We didn’t need to change too much second half, just the positions of our full backs to be a bit wider. They were too narrow and blocking our channels.
“Then [it was a case of] keep moving the ball. We were able to do that then with momentum – the second half was outstanding.
“To come to a top eight team in the World and play that way is going to give us so much.
“I don’t like the defeat, and I don’t feel unlucky Wales. We need to win these types of games.
“But after being 3-0 down, where it could have gone the other way and for them to believe in themselves will give us so much moving forward.”
[Lead image: Football Association of Wales]
