Lewis Koumas scored his first international goal, snatching a late 1-1 draw for Wales against World Cup-bound Ghana in Cardiff.
Ghana had taken the lead through substitute Caleb Yirenkyi in the 66th minute. Yirenkyi capitalised on a close-range rebound after the ball struck a post, sparking jubilant celebrations among the vocal Ghanaian contingent.
Their reaction, akin to a World Cup fixture – perhaps even against group rivals England – contrasted with the stadium being only a third full.
Koumas, introduced as a substitute on the hour, then rescued Wales from defeat, heading in a Neco Williams cross deep into the third minute of stoppage time.
Earlier, Daniel James had twice struck the woodwork, a performance following manager Craig Bellamy‘s pre-match comments on the Dragons’ dismal June record.
Wales had lost seven of their previous 11 matches in the month of June, with only two wins.
This friendly marked the 150th anniversary of the Football Association of Wales, which was formed at a Wrexham hotel in 1876, and the Dragons wore a plain red and white retro kit for the occasion.
open image in galleryIt was also the first time Wales had played African opponents on home soil, but there was something of a World Cup hangover after play-off heartbreak in March with empty seats galore.
Bellamy sent out arguably the strongest XI available to him in the absence of injured duo Ben Davies and Harry Wilson.
Ghana named Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo – who had a loan spell at nearby Newport earlier in his career – on the bench, while former Swansea striker Jordan Ayew wore the armband.
Jonas Adjetey twice came to Ghana’s rescue in the opening exchanges before James almost added to his 10 international goals.
Lawrence Ati-Zigi made an excellent point-blank stop to push James’ header against a post, and the Leeds winger then rattled the crossbar after Thomas Partey had blocked his first attempt.
Ayew shot over wildly but Ghana had not presented any threat until Karl Darlow’s pass to Joe Rodon fell short. The Leeds goalkeeper atoned for his aberration by smothering Ayew’s attempt on the edge of his six-yard box.
Ghana were growing into the contest and Neco Williams took the sting out of Kamaldeen Sulemana’s shot before Darlow was forced to tip over a Marvin Senaya volley that had deflected off Sorba Thomas.
But the Black Stars were perhaps fortunate to still be at full strength, Partey having cynically brought down David Brooks after being cautioned for a similar challenge on James.
Partey was unsurprisingly substituted at the half-time and Ghana survived when Gideon Mensah’s careless touch rolled the ball inches wide.
The Black Stars made the most of that escape after Neco Williams tumbled and Swedish referee Oscar Johnson ignored penalty appeals.
Ernest Nuamah burst through to force a fine diving stop from Darlow, but Yirenkyi was on hand to nudge the ball home.
It looked as if that would condemn Wales to defeat but Koumas, who finished the domestic season by celebrating promotion to the Premier League with loan club Hull, joined his father Jason as an international goalscorer.