Rhian Wilkinson accepted that Wales must raise their standards after they scraped to a 1-0 victory over Albania in the first leg of their Women’s World Cup play-off semi-final in Shkoder. Wales take the upper hand into Tuesday’s second leg in Llanelli after Ezmiralda Franja’s first-half own goal settled the game. The second leg is scheduled for Tuesday, 13 October at 19:15 BST at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli.
Albania, who sit 37 places below Wales in the Fifa rankings, created the game’s best chances. Franja, Fortesa Berisha and Megi Doci all came close for the home side, while Wales’ attacking threat was limited. Wilkinson had set a clean sheet as Wales’ primary target in Albania, and her players delivered on that score, albeit in fortuitous fashion.
“We stuck with it. [It was a] resilient performance. Not our best, but equally, we learned to win on hard days, and today it wasn’t our best,” Wilkinson said. “Coming home with [the win] is great. We’re halfway there. We need to make sure we take care of business at home but equally push our standards a bit.”
Wilkinson added that she did not think Wales defended overly well, but praised their refusal to quit. “I do think I’ve been in this job long enough to have seen that growth with this team, that we’re finding ways to stick in the game,” she said. “And we’ve got to be happy with that right now because, again, we’re away from home and in an environment where they made it really tough.”
Wales thumped Albania 4-0 in Wrexham on their way to winning Group B4, a campaign in which they also thumped Montenegro in Llanelli and claimed a rousing 3-1 success against the Czech Republic in Cardiff. They return to Parc y Scarlets hoping another dominant home performance will send them through to a two-legged play-off final in December.
Albania will feel they were right in the game, Wilkinson said, so Wales must match their energy and take advantage of the stretch in the game that Albania will give them. “It’s another battle. I’m confident in my team, but we’ve got to be ready to fight because definitely Albania will be,” she said.
Should they progress, Wales look likely to face Norway after Gemma Grainger’s team won 2-0 in Romania on Friday. Norway are ranked 14th in the world. Even if Wales topple the Norwegians, they may then have to negotiate inter-confederation play-offs next February to secure a place at next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.