Wales edge Albania 1-0 in World Cup play-off but Wilkinson demands improvement
Wales take slender lead to Llanelli after scrappy Shkoder success
Wales moved halfway towards a historic first Women's World Cup appearance after a 1-0 victory over Albania in the play-off semi-final first leg in Shkoder on Friday.
An Ezmiralda Franja own goal in the first half settled a contest in which the Welsh were far from their fluent best, with the Albanians — ranked 37 places below Rhian Wilkinson's side in the Fifa standings — creating the game's clearest chances at the Loro Borici Stadium.
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson was candid in her assessment, conceding the performance fell short of the standards required to reach next summer's finals in Brazil.
"We stuck with it. [It was a] resilient performance. Not our best, but equally, we learned to win on hard days, and today it wasn't our best," Wilkinson said. "Coming home with [the win] is great. We're halfway there. We need to make sure we take care of business at home but equally push our standards a bit."
Clean sheet secured amid fortune
Wilkinson had set a clean sheet as Wales' primary objective ahead of the tie — a demand she reiterated in coverage on 9 October as an injury-depleted squad travelled to Shkoder. Her players delivered on that score, albeit in fortuitous fashion, as Fortesa Berisha and Megi Doci both came close for the hosts.
Albania's failure to convert proved decisive, just as it had in Wales' three away games during the group stage of qualifying. "I didn't think we defended overly well today to be honest, but what we did do is we never quit," Wilkinson added. "I do think I've been in this job long enough to have seen that growth with this team, that we're finding ways to stick in the game. And we've got to be happy with that right now because, again, we're away from home and in an environment where they made it really tough."
Injury backdrop and road ahead
The squad travelled under significant strain. As reported on 29 September, Wales were without seven players through injury for the two-legged tie, with Liverpool midfielder Ceri Holland and Hayley Ladd among the absentees. A further update on 9 October confirmed nine regular squad members were sidelined and six uncapped players were included in the group.
Wales had earlier thumped Albania 4-0 in Wrexham on their way to winning Group B4, and also defeated Montenegro in Llanelli and claimed a 3-1 win against the Czech Republic in Cardiff. They now return to Parc y Scarlets for Tuesday's second leg (19:15 BST, live on BBC iPlayer, BBC One Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and the BBC Sport website and app) knowing a dominant home display would book a two-legged play-off final in December.
"Albania will feel like they were right in this game and they were," Wilkinson said. "So we've got to make sure that we match their energy and take advantage of the stretch in the game that they're going to give us because they're going to go for it. It's another battle. I'm confident in my team, but we've got to be ready to fight because definitely Albania will be."
Should Wales progress, they look likely to face Norway after Gemma Grainger's side won 2-0 in Romania on Friday. Even if Wales topple the 14th-ranked Norwegians, they may still need to negotiate inter-confederation play-offs next February to reach the World Cup in Brazil.