"I made the decision to stay because this is the right place for me," C. Bellamy said in a BBC interview that puts his choice at the centre of Wales' Nations League build-up. He admitted Burnley had a chance to move him, but said he chose to remain in charge in Cardiff. Wales now begin a run of four matches in 10 days, with the opener away to Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday, 24 September at 19:45 BST.

Bellamy's choice and Wales' start

Bellamy's explanation was not framed as a breakdown in talks. "It didn't break down. I said no, it's not for me. That was it. There was no walk away from discussions. It wasn't for me," he said. He also linked the call to family life, saying: "It was flattering – we all like our ego being exercised and being wanted – but for me, my partner, my kids, this is the place and we didn't see anything else being able to move that."

That leaves Wales with a manager who has made the stay-put call publicly and plainly ahead of a tough opening stretch. After Portugal, they travel to Denmark on Sunday at 17:00 BST, then host Norway and Denmark at Cardiff City Stadium on 1 October and 4 October respectively.

The fixture load in front of Wales

The schedule is awkward even before the football starts. Wales enter League A Group Four with four matches in 10 days, while Harry Wilson, Nathan Broadhead and number one goalkeeper Karl Darlow are out through injury. Cardiff City's Cian Ashford, Huddersfield Town forward Joe Taylor and veteran Leicester City keeper David Cornell have earned first call-ups, and Reading midfielder Charlie Savage, Oxford United's Mark Harris and Leicester duo Wes Burns and Liam Cullen also return.

Portugal have only won once in their last five, but their recent run still reads LWDWD and they have conceded four goals across those games. Norway have been just as uneven, though their recent sequence of WWLWW shows how quickly they can put together a good spell. For Wales, the immediate task is a compact group of fixtures against teams that can turn a short tournament window fast.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →