Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson targets a first Women’s Nations League success
Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson has targeted a first Nations League success to provide a boost for the upcoming European Women’s Championship.
Wilkinson’s side host League A rivals Denmark in Cardiff on Friday with the Dragons’ first major tournament in Switzerland now only three months away.
Wales opened their Nations League campaign in February with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Italy before drawing 1-1 against Sweden, ranked five in the world at the time, in Wrexham.
Pushing forward
“One of the prouder moments for me after the Sweden game was that I didn’t see any celebration,” said Wilkinson, whose side are 31st in the FIFA rankings, 19 places below Denmark.
“I don’t mean like ‘we’re in the room and never celebrate’, but the players were frustrated that it could have been more.
“There’s an expectation where we have an opportunity to win a game that we should be winning it.
“Any points we pick up in League A are going to continue to push us forward as a team, and our mentality in every game is to be looking for three points.
“The Welsh public are not looking for us to show up at the Euros and be one of the numbers.
“They are looking for us to compete and we’ve got to train that mentality in every single game we play.”
“A different campaign”
Denmark opened their Group A4 campaign by winning 2-1 in Sweden before losing 3-1 at home to Italy.
Bayern Munich’s former Chelsea striker Pernille Harder remains their best-known player, leading a squad that includes Real Madrid forward Signe Bruun and Crystal Palace veteran Katrine Veje.
Tottenham’s Olivia Holdt and Sara Holmgaard, of Everton, are midfield options.
Denmark won 5-1 on their last Nations League visit to Cardiff in September 2023 as a Harder hat-trick helped inflict Wales’ heaviest defeat for almost a decade.
Everton midfielder Hayley Ladd, who reached the 100-cap milestone against Italy, said: “That game has not entered into our consciousness.
“It’s a different campaign, different style and different manager. We’ve left that behind.
“But we know a month after that performance we had a much better scoreline against them (Denmark won 2-1 at home).
“Everyone has those days where you don’t quite perform and we know that you get punished if you don’t.
“We’re well aware of those pressures and what’s at stake.”
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