MARK HUGHES IS CONFIDENT THE DRAGONS CAN BOUNCE BACK FROM THEIR EARLY WORLD CUP EXIT

MARK HUGHES IS CONFIDENT THE DRAGONS CAN BOUNCE BACK FROM THEIR EARLY WORLD CUP EXIT

By Rashmi Goel

Welsh coach Mark Hughes is confident that the team can bounce back from their disappointing early exit from the World Cup. In his 16-year international career, Hughes played in 72 games for his country, scoring 16 goals and scoring four assists in the process. Despite failing to produce their best form in Qatar, the legendary former Manchester United and Chelsea striker has no doubts that the Dragons can consistently grow in the future and continue on their upward trajectory."Unfortunately, we weren't able to make much of an impression," Hughes admitted after the match. The team was thrilled to be competing at a World Cup after so long and after being there you want people to notice you and you want to make them sit up and take notice of you.

Nevertheless, in both games up until the England match, it was relatively low-key, and it was always possible that given England's quality they would be too strong for us in the final match. Despite the fact that England dumped Wales out with a fine 3-0 victory, Hughes thinks that the damage had already been done to his country in its previous match against the UK. After a disappointing 1-1 draw with the United States and a shock 2-0 loss to Iran, they were left with their backs against the wall. It was important for us to get the job done in the first two games - and sadly we found ourselves lacking in that department," Hughes stated. In Hughes' words, the prospect of playing football as an official was not really feasible when he emerged, which is a shame as I have watched the Welsh play a lot of games over the past few years, and I am sure that the Welsh team had the capability of playing much better than their performances in the past, but for whatever reason, they were unable to do so."

Hughes was Wales' first manager between 1999 and 2004. Prior to his attempt at a domestic career, he had no problem throwing himself into the deep end at the international level. Having played for Wales at Ninian Park in September 1985, Hughes was within one final victory of qualifying for the 1986 World Cup after his team beat Scotland at Ninian Park to qualify for the tournament. He is now the manager of Bradford City. Hughes played for Wales before becoming Bradford City's manager. Having won that match, they would have been able to qualify for the Mexico-based tournament by playing a play-off against Australia. For the first time in 64 years, Wales was able to reach a World Cup through their progress to Qatar, which is certainly commendable.

In spite of an exit from the group stage, Hughes believes that the small nation deserves much credit for its victory over the Arab State despite an unfortunate group stage exit. I think that everyone involved in this project can pat themselves on the back for a job well done," Hughes concluded. The team in the World Cup made it to the finals after a long journey in order to get there. A lot of good teams and players weren't able to do the same. There have been great teams that I have been part of with excellent players, but we were never the complete package this team has existed for a very long time now and has enjoyed the success that has enabled them to be a confident team now. ”