After Wales Women’s recent World Cup Qualifying games against Greece and France, all-time leading goal scorer, Helen Ward, believes that her side is well-aware of the task they face going into 2022 but go in with a great deal of confidence and a great year behind them.
At the back end of November, Wales beat Greece 5-0 and fell to a narrow 2-0 defeat to group leaders, France. Wales had one of their greatest performances against France, with goals the only thing missing from their trip to Guingamp.
Speaking on the games, Ward said: “We always knew both games were going to be very different tests and that proved to be the case.
“I thought it was a really dominant performance from start to finish and then the result Greece then went on to get a few days later in Slovenia [0-0] goes to show just how well we played.
“The France game was always going to be a really difficult game, but the girls put in a huge effort, and we were so unlucky not to come away with a point.
“It was disappointing to be down to 10 again and who knows, maybe with 11 we could have snatched something, but it wasn’t to be.”
Wales currently sits second in Group I, with four games left to play. With the next round of games scheduled to be played in April of next year, the Welsh striker believes that the country is in a great position to go through.
“I think if you’d told us we’d be sitting clear in second at this stage, I think we would have bitten your hand off. Not because we wouldn’t have that expectation on ourselves, but you just never know how things will plan out.
“We’ve played everyone at least once now, so we have a good feel of the group, and we go into 2022 full of confidence.”
Reflecting on the quality of football shown in the game against France, Ward states that this confidence that Wales has grown has been building for some time.
“I think the confidence has been growing over the last two or three years.
“Although we didn’t score against France, I think it’s the closest we’ve come to doing so against a top side and that shows we’ve grown”.
We’ve seen several young players begin to break into this hungry Welsh side over the last year, and the Watford striker is excited to see how far they can all go.
“We have been so lucky to find some really, really talented kids in the last few years and the best thing about them is that most of them are in full-time environments with top teams.
“That’s something that the older lot never had at their age and they’re coming into camps ready to compete for a place in the team which is amazing.”
Wales take on France in April with Ward and the rest of the squad ready to continue their fantastic run in the Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign, in their quest of reaching a first major tournament.
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