Wales focusing on bigger picture ahead of South Korea friendly

As Wales prepare to face South Korea in their penultimate game of 2025, manager Rhian Wilkinson says it’s important to focus on the bigger picture of qualifying for the World Cup.

While it has been an historic year for Wales, it’s also not been an easy one. Cymru have not picked up a win all year but did secure two impressive draws against Sweden.

A number of new fans have been introduced to this women’s side this year, and there have been quiet calls for Wilkinson to lose her job due to recent results.

That is something that won’t be happening any time soon, but the manager stressed the importance of not chasing wins. Instead, it was important to look at the bigger picture.

“We can pretend that we don’t know the run that we’re on. We’re aware, and from our end, if we just focused on results, I would not have made the schedule as hard as I have done.

“It has to be about our performances and how we push ourselves as a team knowing that we have to hit the ground run come February next year. I don’t think there’s any panic or upset in the team, but these are high-performing professionals who want to win.

“They all know that we haven’t won in a while, but I find chasing wins distracting from the bigger goal of, come next year, this team is as primed and as ready as possible to try and reach a World Cup.”

Wales captain Angharad James echoed the sentiments of her manager.

James admitted that performances had been up and down this year but ultimately believes this run of difficult games will put them in a good position come next year.

“Of course, for us as a group we want to win every game that we play. Whenever we put the jersey on, we will always go out there and do the best that we possibly can to perform and win the game.

“This year has been a journey, and it’s been a different experience to what we’ve experienced before. We’ve played top opposition in every game, but despite that, we haven’t been happy in some of our performances. Then there’s others that we have been happy with despite the result. It’s all part of football.

“I thought Australia was a great game for us, wasn’t our best but it was good. There’s a bigger picture in all of this and that is to prepare us for next year. Nations League B is a must win group for us, and this is best preparing us for that.”

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Squad Changes

The squad that Rhian Wilkinson has chosen for these final games of the year is a different one compared to last month.

For the games against Australia and Poland, a lot of the U19 team were selected, while for this camp, plenty of players who made up the Euros squad have returned.

While Wilkinson says it is good to get some injured players back, she also stressed the need to give players a chance, especially in the last international window.

“I can look back at these friendly games, and I know we’re only halfway through, and know they were put into the schedule for a purpose.

“One of the reasons why is to challenge ourselves against top opposition, and the other is to make sure that I was giving chances to young players coming through the system, and equally players who hadn’t had much of an opportunity on the field to show me what they can do.

“If I’m not using the friendlies, then what’s the point? I’ve really enjoyed our progression in these friendly games, and we’ve got some of our injured players back now which is great. We’ve got new faces too, but I feel these windows have been very productive for us.”

One of the newest faces in the setup is midfielder Laura Hughes.

A Canberra native, Hughes has one senior cap for Australia to her name but has committed her future to the Welsh national team.

Fellow midfielder James said Hughes has fitted in well and has the attributes to be an important player going forward.

“Laura has been great. She’s fit in well with the group. On the training field she looks sharp and she definitely looks like she’s going to be a very important player for us moving forward.

“I’m really excited to see her on the field this week and in the future too. As a person, she’s settled in well and it feels like she’s been here for a while.”

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South Korea Test

Wales will face South Korea in Malaga on Friday night in what will be their penultimate game of the year.

South Korea will be the second Asian confederation side Wilkinson’s team has faced this year, and the Canadian is relishing the challenge of facing Shin Sang-woo’s team.

“South Korea are in preparation for the Asia Cup next year, and from what we’ve seen from them in our footage, they are a good team with plenty of depth and can play good technical football.

“The players are good at being structured and remaining in their shape, so we’re looking forward to a challenging game and one that will be very different from the one we played against Australia.”

One player that will be familiar to many Welsh fans is midfielder Ji So-yun.

Ji has had an illustrious career, especially at Chelsea where she became a household name. James has played with the South Korean at Seattle Reign, and she says it will be a real challenge coming up against her in the middle of the park.

“Ji is an incredible human and an amazing footballer who has achieved so much over the past few years at both club and country. She loves football. She’s constantly trying to improve and better herself, and she will always play with a smile on her face.

“It’s going to be tough in the midfield against her tomorrow, but it’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to, but I can’t speak highly enough of her.”

(Featured Image: Kara Thomas/FAW)