Craig Bellamy saw Wales fall to a heavy 7-0 defeat to nine-times champions Spain in the opening game of the Uefa Men’s Under-19 Championships.
Senior boss Bellamy, whose proposed move to take charge at Burnley fell through during the week, was in a crowd of 3,606 at Wrexham’s Racecourse to witness a clinical performance from the Spanish.
Wales were outclassed by an impressive Spain team and suffered their heaviest competitive defeat at Under-19 level since 2021.
Chris Gunter’s side next face Germany at the Racecourse Ground on Wednesday, 1 July (20:00 BST) while on the same day Spain play Denmark in the other game in Group A (18:00 BST).
The game marked the start of the eight-team tournament being held in north Wales in a year which sees the Football Association of Wales (FAW) celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Spain’s Xavi Espart had the first effort of note when his stinging shot hit the crossbar inside the opening 12 minutes.
But Spain went ahead four minutes later Daniel Yanez’s deflected shot gave Wales keeper Luis Lines no chance.
The hosts had promising spell after conceding but Spain doubled their lead when Barcelona’s Espart cut into the area and fired an unstoppable shot.
Spain’s devastating attacking play saw them go further ahead courtesy of two goals from Betis winger Jose Antonio Morante.
His shot from inside the area took a deflection to make it 3-0 and he scored a second eight minutes later with an effort from outside the box.
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Spain went further ahead a minute into the second half when captain Quim Junyent netted with an exquisite lob from a tight angle.
Substitute Sergio Esteban scored Spain’s sixth with 13 minutes remaining before Diego Aguedo completed the scoring with a seventh.
His free-kick rebounded off Wales keeper Lines, which summed up Wales’ luck.
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