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Wales boss John Toshack insists his side can recover from the disappointment of losing 2-0 to Finland in their crunch World Cup qualifier.

At Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Toshack's young side were found out by an experienced Finland team, who had veterans Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen as their outstanding contributors.

Captain Craig Bellamy felt neither side has "a glimmer of hope of qualifying" for South Africa in 2010, but Toshack was more optimistic.

Toshack said: "I'm obviously disappointed. They were an experienced side and kept the ball very well.

"During the second period it got more and more difficult against very experienced players.

"It was a must-win for either side in a group where we have drawn the short straw facing Germany and Russia, two of the best teams in Europe.

"But we can pick ourselves up, we have done it in the past. We can recover from this with five games left.

"I'm not angry, I try to understand why people cannot perform as well as they can. But they are very upset, they don't need to be told.

"We controlled the game at times but did not have the cutting edge."

Finland took the lead three minutes from the break when Litmanen's pass sent former Charlton forward Jonatan Johansson clear to squeeze his shot home off a post.

Substitute Shefki Kuqi scored the second with two minutes left to leave the home side deflated ahead of a daunting clash with Germany in Group Four on Wednesday.

Toshack added: "The first goal was very important and we got caught at the end of the half we had dominated. We talked about not losing concentration and that is just what happened.

"We do not have a nucleus of experienced players, like the 30-plus players they had.

"The youngsters cannot buy experience, you wish they were getting more games at their clubs and that means they are not able to reach the level we want.

"Some of them have got nearly 20 caps but they are not playing at their clubs.

"I was pleased until they scored. After conceding so close to half-time it was always going to be difficult."

Finland's Birmingham-born boss Stuart Baxter hailed his side's victory and the performance of veteran midfielder Litmanen.

Baxter said: "That was a very good performance and I was pleased that there were 2,000 Finnish fans here to see it.

"Jari was outstanding, he is in the process of re-inventing himself at 38. He may not be able to do the runs he used to a few years ago, but he can still pass the ball and he dominated the game.

"He is an amazing person. He has been a great servant to Finnish football, a great player.

"Maybe people thought he would be coming to the end (of his career), but he had been working hard to be fit for this match because his Finnish club were out of season.

"He trained on his own for some while and did a lot of work to be fit for this one."

Baxter added: "It was a difficult game for Wales. It was must-win for both countries but the game was one they had to come forward in at home, and it was a difficult game mentally.

"We were better able to handle that but it is only one match.

"Wales are a good side, although they will feel their chances are over after this, but we can just as easily blow hot and cold and they can get a result somewhere to give them heart again."

TeamTalk / Eurosport