Wales players 'buzzing' at Ingle's Euro 2025 return

BBC News

02-07-2025

Wales' players are "buzzing" about the return of cap centurion Sophie Ingle who says she is fit to start Wales' first major tournament match.The former Wales captain and Women's Super League (WSL) record appearance-maker has not played a competitive game for more than a year after undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery.However, the 33-year-old midfielder says she is feeling "like herself again" and is ready to start when Rhian Wilkinson's side face the Netherlands in Lucerne on Saturday."We're all super excited for Sophie. We know what she's been through," defender Lily Woodham told BBC Sport Wales.
"She's worked so hard to get back for this moment and to have her both on and off the field, I think she just offers a different level of experience and ability."As younger players we've always looked up to Soph, and off the pitch she's someone you can always go and speak to with problems. On the pitch you can you can see what she brings to us. So we're buzzing she is back."
'I feel like myself again'
Ingle told the BBC last week that she was relieved to have been selected in Wales' 23-player squad and would be ready to play if selected, but having now arrived in Switzerland, the former Chelsea midfielder believes she is ready to play from the off against Netherlands."I'm feeling really good," she explained. "Every day I'm on the pitch I feel more confident and more myself, and a lot of the girls this week have said 'it looks like you haven't been out for nine months' which is obviously a compliment and gives me more confidence."Sometimes you don't really know how you're playing or how you look when you run or how you look when you're kicking a ball, but to get that feedback off the girls is a really nice moment."Then when I'm watching my clips back after training, I do feel like myself again and moving around the pitch really nicely."Ingle admits there is a big sense of relief to have made the squad, especially as there was no guarantee she would recover in time."I think because they always say on average, it's nine to 12 months [to recover from an ACL injury]. But as you've seen over the last year, especially with some of my teammates at the club, they've gone over the 12-month mark," she said."The nine to 12 month recovery, that's just an average. And it all depends on your body, how your surgery went, what actually was wrong with your knee, because sometimes it's not just the ACL. But I just think as soon as the girls qualified in December, that was always going to be my target."
'A great character'
Striker Kayleigh Barton says the return of Ingle has made the entire Wales squad happy as they bid to try and cause an upset in Switzerland, in a tough Euro 2025 qualifying group that also includes England and France."Sophie's a professional and from the moment she suffered the injury she had a goal in her mind and knew what she wanted to achieve," Barton said."So it's fantastic that we have someone like Sophie back with us in the squad because of her presence, not just on the pitch but off the pitch."She's a great character, she's always smiling so she's like that every single day, and I'm just so happy she's reached her goal of getting back and that she's back with the team."Ingle has won multiple honours in a glittering club career with Chelsea, but expects Saturday to be a career highlight when Wales' players step out in Lucerne in front of their friends and family."Yeah, I can't wait. Can't wait to see the fans there," she said. "I think the families are more excited than us."I think we get a lot of messages from our families saying they can't wait to get out here and likewise with the fans. "To see the flood of red in the background of the goal, hearing the anthem again and being a part of it with the girls is just going to be really special."