\n<\/p>\n
There is a kind of alchemy when Wales play under the lights at Cardiff City Stadium.<\/b><\/p>\n
From the acapella national anthem to the supporters’ songbook and the way the simmering atmosphere inspires players to scale new heights, these are occasions to stir the soul.<\/p>\n
Wales will need some of that magic when they face North Macedonia on Tuesday, requiring victory to finish second in their World Cup qualifying group and secure home advantage for their play-off semi-final in March.<\/p>\n
Fail to win and that semi-final will be an away tie against higher ranked opponents such as Italy, so Wales head coach Craig Bellamy knows the stakes are “massive”.<\/p>\n
“Players have been in this situation so many times over the last 10 years, especially Cardiff nights,” he says.<\/p>\n
“When we’ve managed to qualify, it’s been here. The crowd is used to this environment and these moments.<\/p>\n
“It’s always a big help. We know we need to win, of course, but we have to be patient as well.<\/p>\n
“Fans, recognise when we need you the most, but I’m also fully conscious we have to give you something to cheer as well.”<\/p>\n
That will be the aim against North Macedonia on Tuesday, as Wales look to add to their list of famous Cardiff nights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There is a kind of alchemy when Wales play under the lights at Cardiff City Stadium. From the acapella national anthem to the supporters’ songbook and the way the simmering atmosphere inspires players to scale new heights, these are occasions to stir the soul. Wales will need some of that magic when they face North<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}