Wales set sights high to show they belong among elite at Euro 2025 | OneFootball

Lucerne is noted primarily for its majestic lake and gorgeous medieval city centre, but it is also a part of central Switzerland where gently rolling hills give way to jagged Alpine peaks. For Wales, this tourist magnet marks the potentially awkward junction between the heady optimism of an exhilarating journey towards their first major tournament and the reality of the formidable challenge posed by Saturday’s opening match against the Netherlands.

Perhaps appropriately, Mount Pilatus towers above Stadion Allmend where Wales kick-off their Group D campaign. But the good news for their fans is that Rhian Wilkinson, the head coach, believes mountains are there for climbing. Indeed, Wilkinson clambered up Snowdon before announcing her squad for the tournament on the mountain’s summit last month.

While she acknowledges reaching the knockout phase would be a feat akin to ascending Everest, there is quiet optimism over Wales’s chances of startling Netherlands.

“We hope this is going to be a long tournament,” said the 43-year-old. “Until today it hasn’t felt real, but now I can’t wait for the bus to the game and to watch these women walk on to the field.

“This has been a long time coming, but these players are ready to be on the biggest stage and to be tested against some of the world’s best.”

If mountain metaphors have been a feature of Wilkinson’s 15 months in charge, the former Canada defender, who led Portland Thorns to the 2022 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) title, should not be underestimated.

Wilkinson was capped 183 times and won two Olympic bronze medals. She describes managing Wales as being “right up there with anything I’ve done in my career”.

Well aware that central Europe is often pretty warm in July, Wilkinson prepared her squad with a week’s tough training in Portugal’s Algarve. Uefa observers have been impressed by the intensity of sessions at their base near Lake Constance.

By Friday, Wales’s players were deloading, dictating that Jess Fishlock, Sophie Ingle and co contented themselves with a gentle walk around Stadion Allmend.

While Wilkinson would not reveal any last-minute fitness doubts – instead insisting onlookers “keep calm, don’t panic” – she did suggest Ingle would begin on the bench after her recovery from an ACL injury.

Much, as ever, hinges on the contribution of the 38-year-old Fishlock. As Wilkinson pointed out, the Seattle Reign midfielder “understands space, understands how to connect the pieces and, at her best, is pretty unplayable”.

The great unknown is how the Netherlands, European champions in 2017, respond to the impending replacement of their head coach, Andries Jonker, with Arjan Veurink, Sarina Wiegman’s assistant with England. Jonker, deeply unimpressed by the decision, therefore has something to prove, but his side made heavy weather of qualifying and are widely tipped to struggle in a group also containing England and France.

A lot probably hinges on whether Vivianne Miedema is properly fit after an injury-punctuated season. A goal against Wales would be the Manchester City striker’s 100th for her country. Yet if Miedema and the Netherlands, 11th in the world rankings, can be contained, Wales, 30th, will have indicated that the international game is levelling up.

One of the many good things about Switzerland is that its railways largely utilise a level boarding system. This dictates passengers have no need to negotiate steps up and down to the platform but can simply wheel luggage straight on and off trains. This system makes railway travel more accessible to anyone with restricted mobility, small children or heavy suitcases. Wales, for their part, are intent on showing they are closing the once apparently insurmountable gap between themselves and Europe’s elite.

“Success for us is making sure our team shows up,” said Wilkinson. “But we’re here for a reason and I want my players to be confident. I want Wales to show the world who we are.”

Header image: [Photograph: Fran Santiago/Uefa/Getty Images]