Manajer tim nasional wanita Wales Rhian Wilkinson memanggil kembali penyerang sayap Liverpool Ceri Holland ke dalam skuad berkekuatan 26 pemain untuk menghadapi laga penentu kualifikasi Piala Dunia Wanita melawan Montenegro dan Republik Ceko.
Dilansir dari BBC dan Nation Cymru, Wales dijadwalkan bertandang ke markas Montenegro di Podgorica pada Jumat, 5 June 2026, sebelum menjamu Republik Ceko di Stadion Cardiff City empat hari kemudian.
Selain Ceri Holland yang sempat absen pada bulan April, lini pertahanan Wales juga kembali diperkuat oleh kiper Leicester City Olivia Clark dan bek Newcastle United Lois Joel yang telah pulih dari cedera.
Gelandang Melbourne City Laura Hughes turut mendapatkan panggilan untuk kedua kalinya setelah sempat absen akibat cedera sejak berpindah kewarganegaraan dari Australia pada Desember lalu.
Kendati demikian, Rhian Wilkinson dipastikan kehilangan pemain berpengalaman Manchester United Hayley Ladd akibat mengalami cedera ringan saat Wales berjuang memperebutkan posisi puncak Grup B1.
"I think it's an exciting squad - we are really building our depth with Wales," ujar Rhian Wilkinson, Kepala Pelatih Wales, kepada BBC.
Wales saat ini menempati peringkat kedua grup di bawah Republik Ceko karena kalah selisih gol, meski kedua tim sama-sama mengoleksi 10 poin dari empat pertandingan kualifikasi.
"We can't have a squad that names itself and we are seeing that this one," kata Rhian Wilkinson.
Wilkinson juga mengungkapkan bahwa dirinya telah melakukan evaluasi personal via telepon dengan seluruh pemain setelah penampilan kurang memuaskan saat menang tipis 1-0 atas Albania pada laga terakhir.
"I think last camp we had one of our best camps off the field and in our first game and then we ended it with a performance that I didn't think reflected who this team is," ucap Rhian Wilkinson.
Evaluasi ini ditujukan agar para pemain Wales mampu mempertahankan level permainan terbaik saat menghadapi situasi sulit di lapangan pertandingan.
"So I've had one-on-ones with every player through this break, just to sit with them on the phone and talk about how the difference with those top, top teams is that when they have an off-day, they don't drop that far," tutur Rhian Wilkinson.
Skuad Wales dituntut meraih kemenangan dalam dua laga sisa guna mengamankan posisi puncak grup demi mendapatkan undian babak play-off yang lebih menguntungkan.
"We reverted to a type of football that I don't think we've ever played and that was a frustration for me, but equally the players were so frustrated with themselves," kata Rhian Wilkinson.
Selain para pemain senior, Wilkinson turut menyertakan gelandang muda AFC Bournemouth Elena Cole yang berusia 19 tahun serta bek Manchester United Scarlett Hill ke dalam tim.
"We've got two very important games around the corner where we've got to make sure that we deliver two performances that we can be proud of," ujar Rhian Wilkinson.
Keputusan perpanjangan kontrak Wilkinson hingga 2029 mendapat respons positif dari gelandang Charlton Athletic Mia Ross yang baru saja membawa klubnya promosi ke Women's Super League.
"I think she's been great since she's come in," kata Mia Ross, Gelandang Wales, kepada BBC.
Ross menambahkan bahwa atmosfer di dalam tim sangat baik karena seluruh pemain menghormati kepemimpinan Wilkinson yang sebelumnya sukses membawa Wales melaju ke Euro 2025.
"Obviously she came in a period where I wasn't here, but a lot of the girls always speak so highly of her," tutur Mia Ross.
Wales kini mengalihkan fokus penuh untuk mematangkan taktik demi meraih hasil maksimal dalam dua pertandingan krusial pada awal Juni tersebut.
"She took the girls to the Euros. Obviously we didn't get the results we wanted but I think that we just keep progressing and progressing, and I think she's the person and the type of manager to keep us pushing forwards 100%," ucap Mia Ross.
Target besar tim sepak bola wanita Wales selanjutnya adalah menembus putaran final Piala Dunia Wanita yang akan diselenggarakan di Brasil pada tahun depan.
"It's definitely a long road and a long way to go, but who doesn't want to be in a World Cup? Who doesn't want to compete on the biggest stage?" kata Mia Ross.
Ross menekankan pentingnya menjaga fokus dari satu pertandingan ke pertandingan lainnya demi membangun momentum yang kuat sebelum menghadapi Republik Ceko.
"I think it's definitely one game at a time, making sure that we have a good performance against Montenegro, that we try to score as many goals as we can but also defend well too," tutur Mia Ross.
Wales dijadwalkan menjalani latihan resmi di Cardiff sebelum bertolak menuju Montenegro.
"We want to come out with a really solid performance to build momentum to the Czech Republic game," ujar Mia Ross.
Ross juga menyempatkan diri untuk memberikan simpati kepada rekan setimnya di Wales, Hannah Cain, yang harus terdegradasi bersama klubnya, Leicester City.
"To win a play-off game... it was a great experience, a great day," kata Mia Ross.
Meskipun demikian, Ross menegaskan seluruh rombongan tim nasional saat ini memiliki komitmen penuh untuk mencurahkan konsentrasi bagi kesuksesan Wales.
"I managed to catch Hannah before the game. [I was] sorry for Leicester, for them to go down, but I'm sure they'll come straight back up. They're a good team and they've got a lot of good players," ucap Mia Ross.
Pertandingan pembuka melawan Montenegro menjadi ujian awal kelayakan taktik Wilkinson dalam meramu komposisi baru skuad Wales.
"But obviously we're here to focus on Wales and what's to come over these next two games, so the focus is on that now," kata Mia Ross.
