A promising start, an explosive opening goal, became in the end a familiar story of Welsh shortcomings and surely even the most optimistic of their followers must write off their qualifying prospects.
Nathan Blake’s early volley gave them a brief and illusory dominance but just as in the previous home games against Norway and Ukraine they could not make the advantage tell. Having said that, Poland showed just why they have such a firm grip on Group Five and but for Paul Jones’s excellence between the posts could have won this fixture by a more convincing margin.An astonishing miss by Ryan Giggs, who slipped the ball wide of a gaping net from a position where he could have shaken hands with the Polish goalkeeper, will be a lasting memory of another disappointing Cardiff afternoon that brought Welsh hopes to an end. From a forlorn position 12 points behind Poland, there is simply nowhere for them to go. That miss will linger, as will the common scenario of defensive mistakes which allowed their visitors to grab their two goals and a measure of revenge for the stalemate in Warsaw last October ­ the only blemish on their otherwise all-win sequence after six games.Substitute Pawel Kryszalowicz’s winner with 17 minutes left ended Wales’ run of four consecutive draws and ensured their long wait for a first World Cup win since August 1996 must continue.Poland were missing five of their first-choice side.

But between the posts Jerzey Dudek cut an imposing figure, the Feyenoord goalkeeper apparently poised to join Arsenal. Giggs, resplendent in white boots, put him on alert with a crafty early cross. Other than that, Dudek’s early activity centred around a string of back passes as Wales tried to establish an early foothold.Their pressure paid dividends in the 13th minute with a goal that suggested Dudek is not quite yet the magnificent shot-stopper he has been made out to be, failing to grasp Blake’s left-footed volley and allowing the ball to escape under his body. Although he attempted to claw the ball back as it passed over the line, the referee was on hand to confirm Wales’ advantage which came after John Hartson had won the ball in the air to set up his striking partner.

All too aware that they had failed to hold on to leads in each of their previous two home fixtures, Hughes’ men looked to add to that, and Savage, fed by Pembridge, was close to finding a shooting opportunity. Then Gary Speed sent a header on target but too close to the goalkeeper. Poland hit back strongly and were first denied when Kit Symons, making his first start under the Hughes regime, cleared off the line. Several attempts at goal later and Poland were on level terms, Emmanuel Olisadebe bundling the ball in at the near post after Tomasz Iwan had streaked away on to a long ball out of defence.

Before the interval there was the astonishing miss from Giggs who, standing barely four yards out and perfectly positioned to round off a fine move involving Blake and Hartson, somehow slipped his shot past the post. There was a suggestion of an offside flag but, even so, Giggs’ embarrassment was total.He almost made amends with a sweeping run and a hard-hit cross shot to follow, but in the second half Poland were much the dominant force and restricted the chances for the Manchester United winger and his two front-runners. It enabled Jones to demonstrate again that at this level of competition he is a consistent and unflappable performer, though he was given no chance when Kryszalowicz raced away on to Kozminski’s lofted pass to score the winner.. An exciting but inconclusive World Cup qualifying tie in Dublin yesterday afternoon left European Group Two in the melting pot as the Republic of Ireland and Portugal kept their unbeaten records without inflicting enough damage on each other. Mick McCarthy’s team must almost certainly now win all their remaining games to finish top, which includes beating Holland in Dublin on 1 September.

An exciting but inconclusive World Cup qualifying tie in Dublin left European Group Two in the melting pot as the Republic of Ireland and Portugal kept their unbeaten records without inflicting enough damage on each other. Mick McCarthy’s team must almost certainly now win their remaining three games to have any chance of finishing top ­ and that includes beating Holland in Dublin on 1 September. Long before that comes what should be a more straightforward task on Wednesday in Estonia, where they will be without Roy Keane, suspended after receiving an unnecessary yellow card yesterday. The Irish captain, leading from the front as ever, put his team ahead after they had been outplayed for 45 minutes, and Luis Figo headed the equaliser to effect a just result.The turbulence around the game, first prompted by Fernando Couto’s suspension, continued yesterday, firstly with the Portuguese delegation refusing to attend the traditional pre-match lunch. Pat Quigley, the Football Association of Ireland’s president, said: “We’ve never had this problem before with any other association. Anything they asked for they got and what they complained about was things they hadn’t asked for.”At the final whistle the visiting coach, Antonio Oliveira, infuriated McCarthy by refusing to shake his hand.