Bad boy Bellamy redeems himself in quickfire style

Craig Bellamy has made a habit of bouncing from villain to hero throughout his career but 13 seconds is quick going even by his standards.

That was as long as it took the Newcastle striker, who was embroiled in a nightclub fracas earlier in the week, to get on the scoresheet as Wales brushed Azerbaijan aside 4-0 to maintain their drive towards the finals of Euro 2004.

The final touch on Bellamy's goal came from Azerbaijan goalkeeper Jahangir Hasanzade but it will be credited to the controversial striker.

"Craig's claiming it, he'd be mad not to because he's a striker like I was," Welsh boss Mark Hughes said. "I would certainly have claimed it."

Bellamy's opener was followed by goals from Gary Speed, John Hartson and Ryan Giggs as Wales made it four wins out of four.

"When you score as quickly as that you just have that feeling, and yes I did see it, I was out there for the anthems!" Hughes joked.

"I'm delighted with the result, it was the perfect start and the perfect day. We went on from that opener to turn in a very sound display."

The only low note on another memorable day for Welsh football were injuries to Robbie Savage and Gary Speed -- although there will be no impact on the national squad because of the postponement of their match against Serbia and Montenegro.

"In that respect it is a blessing in disguise that the match has been called off by UEFA because I would not have wanted to play it without two senior men like that," Hughes admitted.

Wales now have 12 points in the group and Hughes said: "We are still 100 percent and we just hope to keep this going so the other countries run out of matches.

"We have four tough games still to go so I'm not thinking of points targets, just one match at a time.

"Now we must maintain our confidence, get ready for our next game in August (against Serbia and Montenegro) and just make sure we don't let anyone else in.

"We are on the front foot now and the players are determined to keep this going and get to where they want to go.

"This is not quite where I wanted to be when I took over as manager, but it's getting nearer by the game."

The win stretched the home side's unbeaten run to 10 games and marked another big step towards their first appearance in a major finals since the 1958 World Cup.

After Bellamy's opener, Wales created a string of chances but it was not until five minutes from the break that Gary Speed made it two with a back post header.

Four minutes later it was three, with Giggs causing more havoc on the left before crossing for Hartson, who pulled the ball down and smashed it high into the roof of the net from an acute angle.

It got better for Wales seven minutes into the second period when Savage's replacement Carl Robinson won possession deep in the Azerbaijan half and fed Giggs just outside the box.

The Manchester United man took one touch to make space and drilled his low shot under Hasanzade for the fourth.

Azerbaijan managed their first shot ten minutes after the break when Ruslan Musayev hooked a shot against Paul Jones' crossbar.

But the visitors offered little more in the way of resistance and Wales were able to play out the match on cruise control.