Wales boss Robert Page insisted that nothing changes with his role at the helm of the nation's squad despite failing to reach Euro 2024 after a dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat against Poland.
In what was a first-ever shootout for Wales in a competitive match, Leeds United star Daniel James saw his effort saved by Wojciech Szczesny while opponents Poland converted all five in a cruel end to a match in which Poland failed to register a shot on target across 120 minutes.
Instead, Robert Lewandowski's Poland will join France, Netherlands and Austria in Group D at this summer's Euros in Germany, while Wales will reconcile with a first European championships spent watching from the touchlines since before 2016.
The failure to qualify has seen the pressure grow on Page after disappointment at the World Cup and a turbulent Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, in which Wales' suffered their worst-ever competitive defeat since 2011 as they capitulated to Armenia, picking up just 12 points from their campaign altogether.
And the former Port Vale boss fielded questions on his future after the defeat. "I've got a great relationship with Dave Adams, the technical director, we’ve had our issues in the past which have been well-documented but everything is great, everything is fine," he said.
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"The board, the chief executive, the president, I think they see the journey that we’re on and what we’re trying to do these couple of months with the retirement of senior players and being one kick from qualification. They see what we’re doing." Asked again about the tenability of his position after the dust had settled, Page gave a firm: "Nope."
The players of Poland celebrate after victory in the penalty shoot outPage is the only man to have led Wales at two major tournaments, but last summer's abject performances against Armenia and Turkey saw fans and the top brass at the FAW question his competence, including chief executive Noel Mooney admitting publicly that Page's position was under review.
Subsequently, Wales produced one of their most memorable performances as they beat Croatia at home to reinvigorate a campaign being read its obituary. Page was publicly backed by staff and players, with captain Ben Davies describing Mooney's comments as "unhelpful" in the build-up to such a big match. After the victory, Connor Roberts joined Davies in making a "zip-it" gesture to the camera.
Asked about what the future for Wales looked like, Page said: "We build on what we’ve done in this campaign, expectations go up because of the success we’ve had, one penalty kick from a Euros, we’re in a transition period. To be where we are right now is pleasing for me, one penalty kick away from a qualification, so we continue to bring in youth and build on how we’re playing at the minute and supporters showed they bought into it tonight."
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