In football they say that if they are good enough, they are old enough, and Wales proved the point in Brondby last night. The youngest Wales team, with an average age of 21 years and nine months, beat Denmark, the unbeaten leaders of their World Cup qualifying group, thanks to a sixteenth goal for his country by Craig Bellamy, the captain, after 77 minutes.

Aaron Ramsey, 17, the Arsenal midfield player, made the most hyped debut for Wales since that of Ryan Giggs 17 years ago and he lasted all but the final three minutes in an impressive central midfield pairing with Jack Collison, of West Ham United, who was making only his second start. “They did well with not much experience around them,” John Toshack, the Wales manager, said. “We came here without some important players, but it was pleasing to see how well the team worked.”

Denmark shaded the first half on possession, but it was Wales who created more openings, Bellamy failing to convert two good chances before the interval. Leon Andreasen, of Fulham, put the ball over the crossbar for Denmark, who lost focus as Morten Olsen, the manager, began to make substitutions. Bellamy punished them by shooting into the bottom corner at the end of a solo run and Boaz Myhill preserved the advantage in injury time with a fine save from Morten Vingaard’s volley. The goal-keeper deserved his luck when Soren Larsen’s header rebounded off a post.

Denmark (4-4-1-1): T Sorensen - K Bogelund (sub: L Andreasen, 46min), D Agger, P Kroldrup (sub: M Vingaard, 60), T Rasmussen (sub: P Mtiliga, 46) - D Rommedahl, T Kristensen (sub: M Retov, 70), H Norregaard, M Krohn-Delhi (sub: M Jorgensen, 60) - M Nordstrand (sub: S Larsen, 46) - N Bendtner. Substitutes not used: S Andersen, K Ilso.

Wales (5-3-1-1): B Myhill - C Gunter, A Williams, J Collins, L Nyatanga, G Bale (sub: N Eardley, 86) - D Edwards (sub: S Ricketts, 46), J Collison, A Ramsey (sub: O TudurJones, 87) - C Bellamy - C Evans (sub: S Vokes, 60). Substitutes not used: W Hennessey, D Blake, C Morgan, S MacDonald.

Referee: M Weiner (Germany).