Forgotten Rangers man delivers 'magic' performance in major win as Ibrox favourite involved in more late drama

An early goal from Dan James (9) put Craig Bellamy’s side on course for a win in their Group J opener, only for Askhat Tagybergen (32) to restore parity from the penalty spot. Ben Davies (47) then nudged Wales back into the lead just after the break, before Matondo came off the bench to seal the win at the Cardiff City Stadium in the 90th minute.

The 24-year-old endured a frustrating first-half of the season at Ibrox, missing four months of the campaign with a troublesome hamstring injury, before being allowed to leave the club on loan to Bundesliga 2 outfit Hannover 96 by former head coach Philippe Clement in January.

However, a strong start to life at the Heinz von Heiden-Arena has resulted in Matondo being handed an international reprieve, earning a recall to the Wales squad from head coach Bellamy. Fellow Ibrox midfielder Tom Lawrence was also included in the Wales squad for the first time in four years, but was an unused substitute in the victory over Kazakhstan.

Picking up his 13th cap, Matondo replaced goalscorer James in the 86th minute and was praised for a “magic” cameo, with WalesOnline saying he “took his goal really well” after being set up by a Sorba Thomas, whose trickery allowed him to deliver a cross that Matondo netted with ease.

“I’ve had to be patient,” said Matondo. “It hasn’t been easy at times but it’s about how the team do. I’ve always been a big Wales fan from the get-go, from growing up to where I am today.

“I’m grateful for getting picked and being in the squad, so it was nice to get on the pitch and score the first goal for my country. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of when I was younger.”

On his move to Hannover, Matondo continued: “It wasn’t an easy decision at first but when Hannover showed me what they were planning in the future I thought, ‘Why not? Go there and try to play my football’,”

“It’s been a long, hard season with injury at the start so coming back and trying to get minutes was very important. I didn’t know whether I would get that at Rangers at that moment.”

Wales are back in action on Tuesday when they take on North Macedonia in Skopje, who also started their campaign on a high with a 3-0 win away at Liechtenstein.

Elsewhere, Rangers forward Vaclav Cerny started for Czechia as they got their World Cup qualification campaign off to a dramatic start against the Faroe Islands.

The 27-year-old hit the headlines in last week’s 3-2 win over Celtic when he was caught on camera spraying the contents of a water bottle towards the home fans after Hamza Igamane's 88th-minute winner - and was involved in more action this weekend during his country’s game in Hradec Králové.

Taking the lead in the 25th minute through Patrick Schick, Czechia looked on course to secure a routine victory against the minnows, only for Gunnar Vatnhamar to score an 83rd-minute equaliser for the Faroes. The Ibrox favourite and his teammates were able breath a huge sigh of relief just seconds later though, as Schick struck once again to seal a 2-1 win for the home side, dashing Landsliðið’s hopes of securing an unexpected point on their travels.