logo
Wales' opponents make telling confession about Welsh anthem at Euro 2025

Wales' opponents make telling confession about Welsh anthem at Euro 2025

Wales Online7 hours ago
Wales' opponents make telling confession about Welsh anthem at Euro 2025
'For us, it's really hard to explain the pride and the joy of the other day," explained Fishlock.
Rhiannon Roberts, Jess Fishlock and Gemma Evans of Wales sing their national anthem
(Image: Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images )
Wales legend Jess Fishlock says Netherlands players got more goosebumps during the Welsh national anthem than when listening to their own.
Cymru lost 3-0 to the Dutch in their first-ever match at a major women's tournament at Euro 2025, but the day will forever be remembered as the moment history was made, along with the immense support of the Red Wall.

Welsh supporters marched in their thousands to Allmend Stadion in Lucerne, Switzerland, singing Yma O Hyd, 'Don't Take Me Home' and other popular football chants and songs.

The sea of red carried that energy into the ground, giving Rhian Wilkinson and the players a resounding welcome upon arrival.
Wilkinson even said it was so intense it left her "intimidated and emotional".
Before kick-off there was a stunning rendition of the Welsh national anthem.
Article continues below
Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Fishlock revealed Wales' opponents were moved more by Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau than their own national anthem.
'For us, it's really hard to explain the pride and the joy of the other day," explained Fishlock.
"The march, the fans and the anthem. And you have opposition players telling you that they had more goosebumps for your anthem than their anthem.

'It's hard to not run away with that.
The Red Wall were in full force!
(Image: (Photo by) )
"Especially with the pride that we have being Welsh and for being here.

"Going through that in the first game, and allowing that experience will only make the next game better for us. We know what to expect now.
'You can talk about dealing with those things all you want, but until you're in it, and you feel it, it's going to be really hard to understand all of that.
'We did the best we could do in the moment and now we get to learn from that moment as well.

"Our historic event that nobody can take away from us.
'Now, we get to try and do something special on Wednesday.'
Wales fans fill the streets in Lucerne
Article continues below
Wales face France on Wednesday, before a date with England on Sunday evening. Both matches are taking place in St Gallen.
Wales must avoid defeat against France if they are to have any hope of remaining in the tournament.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oasis fans miss reunion gig after fake Cardiff ticket sales
Oasis fans miss reunion gig after fake Cardiff ticket sales

BBC News

time17 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Oasis fans miss reunion gig after fake Cardiff ticket sales

Dozens of Oasis fans who believed they had bought a private box for Saturday's concert in Cardiff say they have paid hundreds of pounds for tickets they never victims told BBC Wales they were left "gutted" and "angry" after paying Pembrokeshire-based business owner David Gray for tickets which seemingly never allege Mr Gray may have left as many as 100 people without Wales has made multiple attempts to contact Mr Gray, but he has been unavailable for comment. Dyfed-Powys Police said it was investigating reports of a ticket scam, but did not make direct reference to Mr Stephens from Crumlin, Caerphilly, paid £500 for tickets for himself and his wife, who he said was "inconsolable"."My wife, Hannah, is literally the world's biggest Oasis fan," he said."I had a call from my friend who said he knew somebody with a box and asked if we would be interested."He said it was a gentleman called David Gray. He's a client of the Principality Stadium and has held many corporate events there."I've got friends who'd been to the Foo Fighters and the rugby, all as a guest of Mr David Gray. "There were no alarm bells. There was no reason to disbelieve it, there really wasn't."Mr Stephens said after Mr Gray confirmed their tickets last summer, it was only about a week before the concert that concerns began to day before the gig, Mr Stephens and his friend decided to drive to The Speculation Inn near Pembroke, a pub owned and run by Mr Gray's family, to confront him."I introduced myself and he told me the issue was with his mobile phone, which he said was the phone which contained all of the tickets," said Mr Stephens."He actually took a call during our time in the pub from a guy flying in from Gibraltar for the gig."He said that he would meet us outside gate three at 4:30pm and he would sort it out." 'It just makes me feel sick' Mark Bonnici from Machen, Caerphilly, also said he had no reason not to trust Mr Gray, whom he said he had known for paid £1,200 for four tickets and said the experience had left him feeling "sick".Mr Gray had previously offered him hospitality tickets for the rugby, which he went to without he asked him if he was interested in Oasis tickets, Mr Bonnici said yes and transferred the money."He said his phone was playing up and he couldn't transfer the tickets," Mr Bonnici Mr Stephens, he was told to meet Mr Gray outside gate three of the stadium. "There was no sign of him and his phone has been switched off ever since," he Stephens decided to call the hospitality account manager for the Principality Stadium on the Saturday morning, while on his way into Cardiff to try to find out whether his tickets were genuine."He broke the rather unfortunate news that the booking didn't exist in his name," he WRU has been asked whether or not Mr Gray has ever held a box at the Principality Stadium."I was annoyed, my wife was inconsolable. She was so looking forward to this," said Mr Stephens."As the day unfolded, it became very clear through a series of Facebook posts that not only did he sell 33 seats for the one box, he sold it over and over and over."The last count as of this (Monday) morning was 87 tickets. A lot of very angry people".Mr Bonnici also said it only became clear many others had been affected after his daughter posted on social media and contacted hospitality at the Principality groups of other people had been waiting for their tickets in the same location, he said."I'm probably more disappointed than anything," he said. "This is someone I know, I've known for years." Mr Stephens claimed that after the unprecedented demand for Oasis tickets led to significant price rises last summer, Mr Gray increased the prices he was charging to between £900 and £1,000 per said he believed that overall, fans had lost out to the tune of "tens and tens of thousands of pounds"."I think the biggest issue is, for all of these fans, they didn't get to see Oasis", he said."And because it's sold out, they won't get to see Oasis."It's more that than the money for me".Mr Stephens and his wife remain determined to get to an Oasis concert this year and have booked tickets to see the Gallagher brothers on the US leg of their tour in Los Angeles."Hopefully these ones are genuine," he said.

'Exceptional' Spain show adaptability -  but are they 'vulnerable'?
'Exceptional' Spain show adaptability -  but are they 'vulnerable'?

BBC News

time43 minutes ago

  • BBC News

'Exceptional' Spain show adaptability - but are they 'vulnerable'?

Two games, six points, 11 goals - Spain are making their mark at Euro a convincing opening five-goal win over Portugal and a 6-2 thrashing of Belgium, La Roja are through to the knockout stage in world champions and the top-ranked side in the tournament, Spain already had a target on their back - now they have underlined why they are favourites."It'll take something special to outdo them or get a win over them," ex-Scotland captain Rachel Corsie told BBC Radio 5 Live."Spain deserve all the credit they've had so far. It's a daunting task for whoever has to face them as the tournament progresses. "It's a Spanish side that are nothing short of exceptional."Former England forward Eni Aluko told ITV: "Spain are the team to beat."They want to complete football. They are World Cup champions, Nations League - they want to win this Euros because they have not done that yet." 'They have a bit of everything' - what makes Spain so good? Portugal offered little resistance in Spain's Group B opener, but Belgium proved a different challenge, twice equalising after going each time the Red Flames responded, Spain replied instantly to restore their lead and regained complete control when Esther Gonzalez netted their rest of the game was spent largely in Belgium's half, with Mariona Caldentey, Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas scoring in the final half an hour to round off a successful evening for Spain in having 12 shots in a hard-fought first half, Montse Tome's side stepped up a gear after the break to take their shot tally to 33."They have a bit of everything," Corsie said. "They have players that are dynamic, they have players that are exceptionally talented individually, one v one."Their second-half performance left Belgium manager Elisabet Gunnarsdottir saying she "wanted to cry" when she entered the dressing room."I really believed in what we were doing and loved seeing my players give everything they had," Gunnarsdottir said."They [Spain] understand the game on a different level to anything we will see at this tournament."They're so good about making decisions around the box. If you give them time around the box, or give them space, they use it."With Patri Guijarro dominating play from the base of Spain's midfield, and Putellas and either Aitana Bonmati or 18-year-old Vicky Lopez in front, Spain are able to camp outside the opposition's if they fail to squeeze the ball through to one of their forward players, they are ready to have a go themselves."Patri underneath that midfield two, she instructed everything - I thought she was excellent," Corsie said. An ability to adapt - are Spain showing there is more to come? The worry for Spain's rivals? Both Tome and Putellas said in their post-match media conferences that Spain had "room for improvement". Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne agreed on ITV, saying: "I still believe there is a lot more to come from Spain. We haven't seen the best from them in a while, even though they are winning."They have got the quality, you can certainly see that, but I still don't think we've seen Spain in full flow yet. We've seen it in moments. "There is more to come and that's the scary thing."With seven different names on the scoresheet across their two games, Spain have shown they are not reliant on one Spain are known for their short, intricate passing and high possession count, they took a different approach for their second goal, with captain and centre-back Irene Paredes showing up to head home a was also seen by Caldentey's long-range ball over the top for Putellas' goal against Portugal."Spain have added a different style by being able to go more direct. When sides go 5-4-1 it is very difficult to break down, so Spain adding a long ball is an extra thing to win competitions," former Spain midfielder Vicky Losada added: "I am interested to see how Spain change their game. We are so used to them keeping possession and nice passes - but now they have a target in the box." 'Spain have shown their cards' - are there any areas of weakness? So, are Spain unstoppable? The task for their opponents is to find and crack any weaknesses Tome's side may at least, showed their defence is not invincible. Justine Vanhaevermaet's header from a corner proved there are opportunities from set-pieces, while a counter-attacking ball over the top was all Belgium needed to put Hannah Eurlings through on goal for their second. "Their primary strengths are in possession and going forward. Today, Belgium didn't have too much of the ball and they managed to create goals and chances, which on a different day could've been more," Corsie said."That will give teams and nations that they'll face later on a bit of hope, and the way you can see they can be vulnerable."It's understanding that when you do win the ball there's a lot of place to play with if you can find that initial combination to break their press. "You need two passes to break it, and if you can do that, that's where Belgium were able to find success."Spain, after all, have been beaten recently. England triumphed against them in the Nations League this year, and they lost to Brazil and Germany in a disappointing Olympic campaign last summer."For Spain, they will be disappointed that they've given Belgium opportunities from very little, because the other teams look at that and potentially use that to their advantage," Corsie added."Spain have shown their cards on that front and will have to be better when they face better nations later on."

VAR rules out Portugal goal dedicated to Diogo Jota at Women's Euro 2025
VAR rules out Portugal goal dedicated to Diogo Jota at Women's Euro 2025

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

VAR rules out Portugal goal dedicated to Diogo Jota at Women's Euro 2025

Diani Silva dedicated a goal to Diogo Jota, only for it to be ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside, as Portugal battled from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at Euro 2025 and keep their tournament alive. Portugal, who lost their opening game 5-0 to Spain, were on the verge of being knocked out of the Euros as they trailed to Cristiana Girelli's stunning finish in the 70th minute. Diani Silva looked to have equalised for Portugal and celebrated by copying Jota's gaming celebration, but it was ruled to have been offside following a two-minute VAR review. Portugal hit the crossbar in the 89th minute but Francisco Neto's side kept pushing and they eventually got their reward when Diani Gomes finished a low cross moments later to avoid elimination. Portugal warmed up by wearing Jota's name on the back of their shirts in tribute to the Liverpool forward, who was killed in a car crash last Thursday along with his brother Andre Silva. Head coach Neto revealed after his team's 5-0 defeat to Spain, which was played just hours after Jota's death, that the Portugal and Liverpool star had been a supporter of the women's team and followed their results. And they could still progress to the knockout stages although they will need to beat Belgium and hope Spain beat Italy, who are six better in goal difference. Spain earlier defeated Belgium 6-2, with the draw between Portugal and Italy sending Spain into the quarter-finals while eliminating Belgium with one game to play.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store