Wales vs. Ukraine preview: Angharad James named as captain
WREXHAM, WALES - 05 APRIL 2024: Wales' Angharad James during the UEFA Womens Euro 2025 qualifier League B match between Wales Women and Croatia Women at SToK Cae Ras in Wrexham on the 5th of April 2024. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
For the second time in her Wales career, Angharad James will captain the side on Friday night, as they take on Ukraine in Llanelli.
Having led the team out in California against the USA last summer, James will have the opportunity to lead the squad out at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow; an achievement she is incredibly proud of.
“It’s one of the biggest honours you can get as a player, to captain your country and lead the girls out. It’s going to be a proud moment for me and my family. But it doesn’t change anything for me. I’ll still be myself and be the same old person around the place.”
The one thing we’ve kept hearing from members of the squad is the fact that there are so many leaders in this team, each of course with their own set of attributes.
Head coach Rhian Wilkinson says James is fully deserving of the captaincy, and explained what makes her a great leader.
“The group is very different in how they lead. Angharad is not a loud and vocal leader, but she is always talking on the field, and I see that leadership, especially when I’m playing younger players.
“What I really love about her leadership is the way she embraces those younger players. I always see her talking to new players at mealtime, or training with them at the start of a session, and little things like that should be recognised.”
When James captained the team out in San Jose, she came out into bright sunshine and sweltering heat.
Llanelli will be a far cry from that, but one thing she will have is a great support behind her. Hailing from Haverfordwest, it’s almost fitting a west Walian will lead Wales out in the west, and James isn’t short of ticket requests!
“I have about 30 or 40 tickets that have been requested so they are coming in their numbers so it will be nice.
“Away in the USA, I got the opportunity to do so, and it was a really proud moment but none of my family could make it so it will be really special to have them all there, whilst leading the team.
“I’m really excited and really positive for the game too, it’s a game that I’m really looking forward to.”
Freedom to make mistakes
The more we watch Rhian Wilkinson’s side the more we will come to learn what kind of tactician she is.
One thing that is clear to see early on is the fact that she wants players to trust their own intuition and to try things; play in the grey area.
When asked where this ethos emerged from, Wilkinson says she’s never been a fan of black and white football.
“It used to drive me nuts when coaches used to say stand there, and if it didn’t happen exactly how it was meant to, then everyone is confused. I hate that about the game.
“A lot of coaching ends up black and white because players want it to be black and white, because they know exactly what to do, but that’s not sport.
“I do speak a lot about the grey, because in the end, I’m not on the pitch. If a player does something, no matter if it’s wrong or right, we can adapt to it. If they feel there’s space out wide, then use it, other players will work around that.
“That’s what I like about football. There’s a place for everyone and how they play, and it’s how those around them adapt.”
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It’s something that a lot of players have spoken about already, and Captain James is another who is incredibly keen on this new free-flowing Wales side.
“I like it this way. With the players that we’ve got, we’re all very versatile and we like to interchange and be able to be flexible in our shape, and that means the opposition don’t know what we’re going to do.
“So many of us have played together for so long that we know each other’s movements and where we’re going to be. It’s definitely improved us in the first two games and hopefully we can continue to get better and grow.”
Canada’s historical moment
In Wilkinson’s native Canada, a big bit of history has been made this week.
The formation of the Northern Super League was announced yesterday; the first ever professional women’s league in Canada.
In Wales, we have seen our national league go from strength to strength over recent years, and we are now set for our biggest season yet in 2024-25.
Canada are now on the start of that journey and having been a big advocate for a Canadian league for many years, Wilkinson is overjoyed that this is now finally happening.
“I’m so proud. My former teammate, and my best friend, Diana Matheson, who I played with for almost 20 years, is the CEO of the Northern Super League.
“In Canada, there’s never been a professional women’s league. It’s been promised and promised and promised for 20+ years, and it took a former player and teammate to say, it’s not good enough, and she did it herself.
“She went and got funding, went out and campaigned for it, and built a league out of nothing. Last year I was helping to support her with that work, and try and take something off her plate, but she’s been flat out for two years to get it off the ground.
“To finally see it being launched and come to fruition, as a Canadian but also as a best friend, I’m unbelievably proud.”
Ukraine test
Wales can take a big step towards the European playoffs as they take on Ukraine on Friday.
Wilkinson knows her side will have to put in a good display, but if they can do so, then Wales will have a good chance of victory.
“Ukraine is a strong team. They are suffering at home, we know what they’re going through, and it that way they’re hard to scout.
“Domestically, their league is going through quite a bit right now, but from my side, what we can do is show up and respect them enough to give the performance I know we can deliver.
“We want to be winning, we should be winning, but we have to put in a performance.”
Many of the Red Wall faithful were shocked to see Croatia beat Ukraine last time out, which leaves Wales with a great chance of extending their lead at the top of the table if they pick up all three points.
Despite coming off the back of a surprising loss, James isn’t taking Ukraine lightly, especially with only two places separating them in the FIFA World Rankings.
“Whenever you put the Welsh jersey on, it’s never going to be an easy game. That’s something we’ve made sure everyone is aware of this week.
“The circumstances of their loss to Croatia, we don’t know what happened. We’ve watched clips but, they may not have had their strongest team out, they might have had injuries, but we can only control what we can control. We’ve worked hard this week to try and nullify their threat.
“We know how they play and know their philosophy, and we’ve worked on ourselves to know how to counteract that. As long as we can do those things, we’ve got a good shout of winning the game.”
