Cymru U21 boss Matty Jones believes his side’s 4-0 defeat to Norway will prove a valuable learning experience as they prepare for a huge UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign.
The Young Welsh Dragons were beaten in Spain last Friday by a strong and physically imposing Norwegian side in what was their final friendly before competitive fixtures begin in September.
Despite the heavy defeat, Jones remained calm and constructive in his post-match assessment, highlighting the long-term benefits of challenging his young squad against high-calibre opposition.
“It’s a difficult result to take,” Jones admitted. “There were elements of us trying to go toe-to-toe with such a powerful team.
“Putting things into perspective for the players, it’s clear where we are physically at this point in the season.
“It’s always a tough camp to manage — players coming off the back of a long season, while our opponents are mid-season and in peak condition.
“We knew it would be a challenge. The robustness and resilience from Norway were more than we could handle.
“But I spoke to the players about accepting defeat — especially when you face a better side. That’s what Norway were today.
While the result was a frustrating setback for the squad, Jones was keen to underline the developmental value of such a tough encounter — particularly for a squad filled with promising young talent.
“As tough as it is right now to accept, these games will help us. These are the moments where the most powerful lessons come from,” he added.
“No one wants to go through a defeat like this, but we’ve spoken a lot about maintaining a no-blame culture. We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and hopefully we’ve done that in the right way already.
“This window has been great in terms of integration and building that family bond within the squad. We’ve got some wonderful talent in our system that we’re really excited about.”
One of the positives on the day for Cymru was the introduction of several new faces. Twelve uncapped players were part of the travelling squad, with a number of them making their debuts at under-21 level — a moment Jones said must still be celebrated.
“Looking back at previous generations of Welsh internationals, this is probably how their debuts looked too,” he responded.
“I thought we’d reached a point where we could introduce them in more favourable circumstances, but that wasn’t possible today.
“Still, it’s important to celebrate those moments for the young players. I’ve learned a lot — about myself, and about them — and again, those lessons are valuable. I’m glad today happened in a friendly game not in a European Qualifier in September.”
With the focus now shifting to September’s eagerly anticipated opening qualifier against top seeds Denmark, Jones and his coaching staff are determined to turn this experience into motivation.
“Firstly, I want to move on from this game, but it’s important to reference it,” he continued.
“It was a robust test — one we deliberately set up, even if it might prove to have been too big a challenge. That will be questioned, and rightly so, but it was something we needed to do.
“We can’t underestimate any of the opponents we’ll face. We all want to live in a world where things are going well all the time, but sometimes setbacks like this are what keep us grounded and united as a group.
“Hopefully, we’ll be fully prepared for the challenge ahead — starting with Denmark in September.”
