John Toshack praised two of his more experienced players after one of Wales' youngest-ever sides secured a 1-0 victory over Denmark on Wednesday night.
Skipper Craig Bellamy scored the second-half winner, but Toshack made the point of singling out goalkeeper Boaz Myhill for two wonder saves that helped secure victory at the Brondby stadium.
Manager Toshack said: "Craig turned in a magnificent performance, a real captain's display.
"But we rode our luck a bit. They hit the woodwork, and Boaz made two fantastic saves to keep us in it.
"But considering the youth of the side and the inexperience out there, we have to be very encouraged by that result, it underlines what we have been trying to do over the last few years.
"I asked Craig to play a bit deeper with what turned out to be six kids all around him.
"And he was excellent. He had not scored for Wales for over a year so that was a great weight off his shoulders.
"In fact, he missed easier chances in the first half, but he turned in a real captain's performance out there helping all the youngsters and he deserved the goal."
Toshack added: "It was a tough game, and we expected that. I am absolutely delighted with the result considering the age of the players we had out there.
"In the first half the scoreline should never have been 0-0. We could easily have been two or three up.
"But considering the youth of the side, that was a terrific result. We had a lot of inexperienced youngsters right across midfield, with Craig in the middle of them."
Bellamy's goal was his 16th for his country and saw him overtake John Charles in the all-time Wales scoring list.
He is now joint-fifth with Mark Hughes and Cliff Jones.
Toshack said: "We have a lot of youngsters in the side, but they are improving quickly and are getting plenty of first-team games under their belt with their club sides.
"We have been away to very good sides like Germany and Russia of late and played well and got nothing. It would have been easy for the kids to have let their heads drop, but that has not happened.
"Now we have beaten a side who are 30 places above us in the rankings, and we deserved it.
"We stuck at it and got our rewards. It was great to see the lads in the dressing room all smiling, they were absolutely magnificent.
"It is very encouraging for us. By the time we play our next World Cup qualifier in March these lads will have all had three more months of first-team action for their clubs."
The game saw Aaron Ramsey, 17, make his Wales debut, and Toshack said: "The lad did very well, he showed confidence and was excellent in possession."
