Toshack has faith in Bellamy's temperament

Last updated : 01 June 2007 By The Guardian

Giggs will play his 64th and final international in tomorrow's Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic and Toshack said Bellamy's strong personality was a factor in the decision. "We are not the best talkers," he said. "Craig is vocal to say the least and sometimes you need that. I am quite happy with that."

Bellamy stood in for Giggs as captain last year in the matches against Slovakia and Cyprus, and impressed Toshack with his enthusiasm and a willingness away from the pitch to help integrate the squad's younger players.

Question marks about his temperament, however, resurfaced in February when it was claimed he threatened his Liverpool team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club during a "bonding session" abroad.

"From the moment he captained the side I knew that he was the right one," said Toshack. "This is the best one for us. His best performances were in those matches when he was captain. He was the only player I told about Ryan decision's last Friday and I told him that he would be captain."

Toshack also offered his support for Giggs' decision to step down from international football and, although he stressed that he has never considered dropping the Manchester United winger, he did suggest that the time was approaching when he might have made that decision.

"As disappointed as I am, I feel it probably is the right decision," he said. "Very often he is under more pressure playing for us than Manchester United. If he comes off after an hour at Old Trafford no one thinks anything about it and he sits on the bench occasionally. But if it happened with us it would be a big deal.

"The last month or so I've been thinking that I'm not looking forward to being the one who says, 'Ryan I'm going to have to leave you on the bench today.'"

Toshack believes that the Euro 2008 campaign will be over if his team do not defeat the Czechs in Cardiff. "If we don't [win] we can forget any outside chance of qualifying," he said.

Wales will be without Gareth Bale, Tottenham's £10m signing, who has not recovered in time from an ankle injury he picked up in the first leg of Southampton's Championship play-off semi-final against Derby County.

The Welsh defence face a formidable challenge and Steve Evans, with a reputation as a tough and rugged centre-back in the lower divisions with Wrexham, may well confront the 6ft 7in striker Jan Koller. Evans is unfazed by Koller's reputation - "He's just a big lump like me, I will relish the challenge, it's the sort of thing I face every week in League Two."