Craig Bellamy 'grateful' to be appointed as new Wales manager

• Craig Bellamy spoke at a press conference on Wednesday for the first time since being appointed as Wales manager.

Craig Bellamy has said he is "grateful" for the opportunity to be the new Wales manager.

Bellamy succeeds Rob Page, who was sacked last month in the wake of failing to qualify for Euro 2024.

The 44-year-old is a former Wales captain, who won 78 caps for his country between 1998 and 2013.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday for the first time since being appointed, Bellamy said: "The last three, four months it sort of became clear to me that I was happy but I needed more.

"It became clear to me that I needed to look for a number one spot for me, as a person for my progression and obviously didn't know what that was going to be at that time.

"And then I just sort of made it clear to myself that this is what it's going to be, this is how I'm going to go about it and then obviously the situation changed here with Wales."

The former Wales player began his coaching career in the academy of hometown club Cardiff.

He continued: "Wales has always been really important to me. I've spent a lot of my career away from here as well and obviously I've had certain periods where I've been here but I was born here, I've spent a lot of my career away from here and the opportunity led to lead your national team is rare and to get it as a first opportunity.

"It became clear to me that if there was an opportunity to do this, this is the one I wanted and I'm grateful for that."

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