16 hours ago
'Result won't go down in history but occasion will'
Wales suffered defeat in their first game at a major tournament - a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands at Euro 2025 in by 4,000 travelling fans, Wales went into the game as the lowest ranked of all 16 Miedema's brilliant goal on the stroke of half-time undid a solid 45 minutes of defending from Wales against the 2017 Pelova added a second for the Netherlands early in the second before a third from Esmee Brugts sealed was then a case of damage limitation for Rhian Wilkinson's side, who could have easily lost by a greater margin and next face France on Wednesday in Group Sport Wales looks at how pundits reacted to Wales' Euro 2025 opener.
Katie Sherwood, former Wales midfielder on BBC Match of the Day"It wasn't the fairytale we wanted was it? We knew coming into this game they would have to defy the odds to get something out of this game against the footballing giants."The moments we conceded, they're key moments of the game and ultimately they cost us. It's really difficult then to get back into the game when you concede in those moments."Regardless of the score, we need to be proud we're at our first major tournament. Yes, we know there are moments we can improve, but we are not a top-tier team yet - that's where we want to be."But this crowd and the family and friends that have travelled here is massive for the players."
Ellen White, former England striker on BBC Match of the Day"Wales defended really well - it was just that they gave Miedema that yard and she's a special, special player and scored a world-class goal. From a Wales perspective it's back to the drawing board - they've got two more games."The fans will be very proud of their intent and enthusiasm but ultimately they haven't got enough tournament experience - the Netherlands have a lot of tournament experience."There's a lot of positives to take from the game but there's obviously things that they need to improve and they've got two more games to hopefully be as successful as they can be in this group, because it's a tough one."
Nathan Blake, former Wales striker on BBC Match of the Day"You have to climb the mountain and maybe you haven't got to the top, but if you play against the best, you start to understand what it's really about."I think the positive for Wales is, this game you have seen what you are up against in these tournaments. I definitely think they will look at is as a positive. OK, 3-0 they've lost but look where you are, look where you've come from to where you are."At the end of the day they were up against a top-quality team. so you've got to give yourself some credit, not think to yourself 'we haven't performed to the best of our ability'."Maybe you have performed to the best of your ability but the team you're up against is just better."But for now you go back to the drawing board and what can we do to try and be better in the next game? You're always evolving, trying to get better and find ways to win."It's something where you have to sit down and watch this game and try and improve little things - energy levels, recovery is really important. Substitutions - it's important who you use and where you use them."There's lots of little nuances to improve on."
Wales must get over this quickly - Jones
Nia Jones, former Wales defender on BBC Radio Wales"This performance and result won't go down in history, but the occasion certainly will."The Dutch didn't miss their chances - they were so clinical and the timing of their goals, before half-time and just afterwards, knocked the wind out of the Welsh sails."Miedema had so much time and space on the edge of the box - they will be looking back and cringing at that in analysis this week. That was the catalyst for the Dutch to run away and they came out with a spark."The stars in their squad - Jill Roord, Vivianne Miedema, Danielle van de Donk – they really were in a class of their own. That's probably the one thing this Welsh squad is now lacking - world-class performers playing at the top level, week in week out for their clubs."There's no substitute for that coming into a tournament of this stature."I think upon reflection Wales will be lucky that it was only three. They will need to debrief and get over this emotionally and physically very, very quickly."Tactically they will have to look at a couple of things out of possession. The backline on occasion - especially in the second half - wasn't connected together."
Kath Morgan, former Wales captain on BBC Radio Wales"Firstly I'm very, very proud of these players. I don't think they got overawed by the occasion."Our structure, our defensive strategy, our discipline - you can only do that for so long against really good teams."I think our midfield struggled with the runs in behind their shoulders and they didn't track those runners and that made Josie Green and Rhiannon Roberts pull out of their defensive line, and we got punished."This has happened and they will learn from it."We've never been here before - all these other teams have been here multiple times so I'm not here to criticise the players."This is the level they need in order to compete consistently and it's been a hard evening - they will take positives from it."
Former Wales defender Danny Gabbidon, Radio 5 Live pundit"They're a quality outfit the Netherlands, they've got some quality players but I was a little bit disappointed with the manner of the goals conceded."I thought it was very difficult in that midfield for Angharad James and Hayley Ladd at times. I thought they were overrun and it was very difficult for them to get pressure on the opposition or protect that backline. They were caught in between two stools really."You can take heart from how we kept going - we always do, we never gave up. But we certainly can look at the game back and say that there are things we can do better and there are positives we can take from it as well."But we will reset and refocus and we won't let that result worry us too much - this group has been through so much, so many disappointments and negative things. They won't let a 3-0 loss in the first game worry them too much going into the next game."
