WALES manger Gemma Grainger is “excited and looking forward to some tough competitive games” in the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Wales Women have been drawn alongside France, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Estonia in Group I of the European draw for the 2023 World Cup.
On being drawn with 2019 Quarter finalists France Grainger said, “I’m really looking forward to playing one of the best teams in the World, if we’re going to play these teams, we want to test ourselves. We want to find a way to be competitive and get a result against that sort of opposition.”
Wales open their campaign at home to Kazakhstan on the 17th of September and finish at home to Slovenia in September of 2022. On finishing with a home fixture, “We wanted to play our last game at home, and we’ve managed to get that, hopefully the fans will be there with us.
Three of our home games are on a Friday night. That’s such a huge advantage for us, then the final game on the Tuesday, it gives the fans a chance to get behind us so we can finish the campaign strongly.”
On the prospect of fans being back in the stadium come the Qualifiers, “There’s a big excitement amongst the fans for the team, the support we have makes us want to be the best we can be. I hope they join us in September to start the campaign.
We’re looking to having a camp in June with two games, to help us prepare for the September window. Hopefully there’ll be some fans there, we want to make them proud and inspire the next generation.”
Wales have been drawn in a pot of six and Grainger sees that as an advantage. “It’s a preference for me because it’s consistent, you play two games every window.
When you’re in a group of five you have to make a decision in one window, if you just play the one game that could be too much pressure. So, for us it’s nice we can get used to the recovery between games. “
Grainger will lead Wales into a Qualifying campaign for the first time, having replaced Jayne Ludlow in January.
By Tobias Hunt
Tobias' Sports Journalism Blog 