Head Coach Rhian Wilkinson praised her side’s character after Cymru twice came from behind to earn a valuable 2-2 draw against Czechia on Tuesday night in their opening FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier.
Cymru fell behind after just 16 minutes when Eva Bartoňová headed home from close range but Hannah Cain levelled for Cymru after she swept home a neat finish midway through the first half.
Jana Žufanková restored Czechia’s lead in the second half with a smart header at the far post but substitute Elise Hughes struck deep into stoppage time to secure a hard-earned and potentially vital point on the road for Cymru.
“I don’t think we can lie about the performance but I’m proud that we stuck in the game, good teams find a way,” she told BBC Match of the Day post-match. “We had an off day and we found a way, which we haven’t done in the past.
“Our passing standard and during transitional moments we weren’t at our best, but it’s a good point and a starting point.
“We’ll keep putting attention on defending set-pieces, I haven’t looked back at the goals yet, so I don’t want to say what went wrong but we weren’t strong enough.
“We’re halfway through this camp, there are improvement areas, and we have to fix them. I thought all our finishers had a good impact, that’s another positive.
“When we started playing through the midfield you could see our quality. We knew it was going to be a battle, so to get a point away from home is a good result.”
Czechia 2-2 Cymru
As it happened
