Bellamy's special dedication

Craig Bellamy has dedicated Wales win over Scotland to former team-mate and manager Gary Speed.

Wales played some devastating football- especially in the first half hour- as they completed the double over Scotland.

Speed tragically took his own life in November 2011 with Bellamy feeling the effect of his loss more than most with speculation that it could lead to his own retirement from the game.

Under Malky Mackay and Chris Coleman Bellamy has rediscovered some of his zest for the game but after winning at Hampden his first thoughts were towards his former Newcastle team-mate.

“I am so proud of these players for the way they played against Scotland,” Bellamy told Wales on Line. “It reminded me so much of our time under Gary, a great human being, and that has to be the way we continue to play our football.

“Swansea City have educated every one of us in how the game should be played, and Gary worked hard to get us playing in that manner for the year he was in charge of us.

“When we play the type of passing football we did against Scotland, we’re doing it in the spirit of Gary.

“It was the type of football produced when we won four games out of five under him and became the most improved team in the world in the FIFA rankings.

“The only game we lost during that wonderful period was to England at Wembley, but we deserved to win that one as well. We were magnificent in the way we passed the ball at Wembley and the game at Hampden reminded me so much of that.

“I was proud that night at Wembley and I was just as proud at Hampden.”

Scotland tried to turn the match into a physical battle but rather than get drawn into that the Welsh stuck to playing their passing game and gained all three points.

Bellamy added: “It was always going to be a physical, daunting challenge, but our players stood up to the task, kept playing their football and won the game in the right manner.

“I can’t speak for the manager, but for me the philosophy of football is to play football in the proper way, which means passing the ball.

“Our youngsters needed to be gallant under very testing circumstances, but they stood tall and got their justifiable reward.

“I can actually take losing a football match, provided I have passed the ball and done things in what I believe to be the correct manner.

“It was the philosophy a great human being introduced with Wales a couple of years ago and it is a philosophy we need to carry through.

“We’ve got such good players in our group who are so perfectly suited to that sort of style. Joe Allen, who missed the Scotland game, is another whi could just step back seamlessly into a team performing in that manner.

“Aaron Ramsey is one of my mates, so I’m not going to say anything bad about him being sent off. He got caught in possession before having to commit his foul, but at least he had the guts to want to keep on trying to do things with the ball.

“In the last minute Rambo still wanted to play the right way. You will win more matches than you lose playing in that manner.

“He’s one of the best passers of the lot and what he had done throughout the rest of the game more than made up for anything that happened to him at the end.

“Gareth Bale is another one who is immense in possession. Just be patient and keep the ball.

“As I say, we were taught lessons in how to do that by an incredible man when he was in charge of Wales. We are respecting what he wanted whenever we play for Wales.

“That was Gary’s philosophy, we stuck to it against Scotland. It was one of my proudest moments in a Welsh shirt and we must stick to it moving forward as well.

“Chris Coleman is trying to play that way, too, and hopefully it will become a method which the whole of Welsh football follows eventually.

“Seeing these young players we have pass and move in such an expert fashion makes me want to keep playing myself.

“I see a bright future for us that way, although I may not be around myself any more when Wales do eventually qualify.”

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