Wales seek statement win in fairytale city

Nations League: Wales vs. Denmark

Odense Stadion, Odense Date: Friday, May 30th Kick-off: 18:15 BST

Live coverage on the BBC Sport website and app, as well as live text commentary, BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales, and Radio Cymru.

In the run-up to Euro 2025, the Wales squad is already at a high level of tension.

The lowest-ranked team in Switzerland will make its debut at a major finals in less than a month.

They must avoid losing to Denmark on Friday if they want to avoid dropping out of the top tier and have yet to record a win in League A of the Nations League.

With matches against former champions, current champions, and traditional women’s football powerhouses in store this summer, it’s important to keep in mind that Wales have never been able to win a game in the top 20 of Fifa’s rankings.

Despite the strides they have made, the Welsh camp’s mood is more determined than resolute.

With just two games left before Denmark take on a team that is ranked 12th in the world, head coach Rhian Wilkinson declared, “This team is ready to win, let me tell you.”

As Wilkinson and Wales prepared for a city full of opportunities for inspiration, they looked it too.

And while talking about fairytales in Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace is tempting, there is more significance in the case of another son of Odense, whose name is adorned a stand above the venue where Wales will play.

The stadium’s entrance is a tribute to Richard Moller-Nielsen’s monumental accomplishment, the country’s 1992 greatest shock, as it was led by the manager.

A team that wasn’t supposed to compete in the men’s European Championship won.

A side that has undoubtedly earned the right to be at this point and is fervent about improving should therefore be reminded of the possibilities.

Wales have consistently been competitive this time around, despite their most recent defeats in League A.

“Every game is a challenging game against opponents who have won numerous Euros and World Cups,” said captain Angharad James.

They are progressing, and there is proof of it.

Italy and Denmark both lost to Wales by one goal. They had a great chance to defeat Denmark in Cardiff a month prior, but they were soon to concede.

And they came back from a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Wrexham with a top-notch performance in Gothenburg that gave the same result.

They have appeared defensively sound, caused issues on the counter, rarely overawed, and are aware of where they need to improve if they want to match opponents’ strengths instead of defeating them.

“This is where we want to be,” Wilkinson remarked. Now that they understand that their position is among the best in Europe and those top nations, “These teams consistently have high scores, but these are tight margins.”

Some people claim that the draw with Sweden could have been Wales’ best ever, but it’s only “so-far,” because it’s going to keep getting better. “We want to keep getting better, we’re not going to celebrate getting ties with big nations,” he said.

James expressed his desire to know more about the side, which was aided by Wilkinson’s commendable decision to provide young people with experience during this campaign.

Rhiannon Roberts was one of the people to acknowledge this week that Wales will need to be more clinical in front of goals to improve their defensive record if they are to capture the statement victory.

The Real Betis defender said, “The foundations are there, defensively we’ve been fantastic, and now we need to put a little more pressure on ourselves to take our chances,”

“But we already have the mentality to defeat these opponents.”

Wales only needs to demonstrate that it can take the scalp, even though Wilkinson denied that it is necessary before Switzerland.