00:00So, Charles, Wales Woman, they have qualified for their first ever major tournament at the
00:07Women's Euros to come next year. Rhiannon Wilkinson has done quite the job since only
00:11coming in as the boss in February and to get them qualified for a major tournament is quite
00:18an achievement. Of course, their other home nations have been there, done it before, England
00:22of course, we know the success they had in 2022, Scotland to Northern Ireland, but now
00:28it's Wales' turn to get there and compete. Obviously, expectations are probably not massively
00:36high because they are qualifying for the first time, but in itself, it's just quite an achievement
00:41to be honest. And quite a moment for Wales Women's Football because to get there after
00:49so many times trying is quite something for them. So firstly, how did it happen? Go through
00:55the qualifying story and also, I say there that expectations perhaps aren't the highest,
01:00but what are our expectations? Are they wanting to just pick up some results or even get out
01:05of the group stages? What should they be looking for? Yeah, I mean, expectations are incredibly
01:11high actually. It's quite strange to see Rhiannon Wilkinson's obviously come in for 10 games,
01:18pretty flawless, only losing once since she came in. It was a massive appointment from
01:23them and they were sort of down the pecking order in the qualifying stages until she came
01:28in to take the campaign. Windsor Island, Croatia, then 6-0 away at Kosovo, a draw with Ukraine
01:36and then another one with Ukraine the game after, 3-0 away at Croatia. And then it came
01:43down to a playoff stage in Group A and it was quite remarkable. They lose away to Slovakia
01:522-1 and they win at home 2-0 to make sure they're through on aggregate. So, you know,
01:57aggregate football is something that's sort of dying in this age and Welsh women's football
02:01fans saw how impressive aggregate ties can prove to be. So much drama, a remarkable night
02:08for Rhiannon Wilkinson and Welsh football, Welsh women's football and Welsh sports and
02:15women's sport as a whole as well. As you say, the Lionesses have been put on the map and
02:20Scotland has been some fantastic achievements from women's football. But for Wales to actually
02:27qualify for their first ever major tournament is just remarkable and it's something that
02:32should be seen for years and years to come as the benchmark for them. Now, going into
02:37the Euros in the summer is going to be so impressive. It's all new ground to them but
02:41I think they're certainly going to be ready for it. Rhiannon Wilkinson says she's prepared
02:46and she wants to face the best of the best because that's where they want to be. And
02:50yeah, it's absolutely fantastic for the nation as a whole and really good for women's sport. So
02:55an amazing achievement and something I think that really deserves so much praise.
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