By Graham Thomas
Has there ever been a more reliable Welsh footballer than Jess Fishlock?
It’s a question worth considering after her country’s heroine once again came to Wales’ rescue late on Tuesday night.
As the seconds ticked down past 112 minutes of football and penalties loomed against Slovakia for a place in the play-off final for Euro 2025, the ball came to Fishlock near halfway.
The 37-year-old had long since started to tire in her first full game for eight weeks.
But instinct – and honed technique – kicked in as she played a perfect pass forward which led to Ceri Holland’s crucial tie-winning goal.
Fishlock had already shown her skills with a deadly chipped finish for Wales’ opening goal and had seen two other efforts ruled out for offside. The one that counted was her 46th international goal.
Gareth Bale managed a record 41 goals in international football for Wales, meaning Fishlock is already her country’s greatest-ever goalscorer across men’s and women’s football.
https://twitter.com/Cymru/status/1851352274263511364
She is also way out on her own as the most-capped player with 156 appearances. No-one else is close.
But it is not just the numbers. Like Bale, she is her team’s talismanic figure, the individual the collective look towards for moments of inspiration.
Bale was the men’s team’s best player by some distance, ahead of the likes of Aaron Ramsey or Joe Allen. Peak Bale was easily the tallest in the mountain range.
But peak Fishlock is not just the highest, she is so far ahead of the other players in the Wales team, they can barely see her for the clouds.
The touch, the control, the finesse, the vision, the awareness – the sheer quality of her basic skills are a chasm ahead of anything else in the Wales women’s team.
That is not to be disrespectful to her Wales team-mates, four of whom, like Fishlock, play professionally in the USA, including her Seattle Reign teammate, and Wales’ captain, Angharad James.
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It is simply to acknowledge that like every truly great footballer within a certain generation, she sticks out like a sore thumb.
It was Fishlock who came off the bench in Slovakia – when not yet fully fit after injury – and rescued Wales in the first leg when they were 2-0 down, by setting up a goal for Ffion Morgan.
She started what could have been a very uncomfortable comeback journey in Cardiff, made sure it was fully upholstered, and then added the finishing touch.
A Welsh victory without her simply would not have happened, a fact admitted by Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson.
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The Canadian revealed she had apologised to Fishlock after the match for leaving her on the field for so long when the player was clearly exhausted.
“She is the ultimate team player,” said Wilkinson, of Wales’ best individual.
“She really is and before this game we had a good conversation. She essentially said, ‘if I have nothing left, take me off’ and I said ‘I’ll do what needs to be done.
“And I did, which is that Jess Fishlock at 50% was worth keeping on. I moved her lower on the field and she was still able to close out the game.
“She was absolutely shattered and I did apologise because I don’t like doing that to my players. But I also don’t ever want to take her off in a game like that, frankly.
“That is what I’m talking about. When you have a player like Jess Fishlock, if you are a Welsh fan, or if you’re a football fan, I just hope people are coming out to watch this player because she is something phenomenal.”
Play-off final opponents the Republic of Ireland are currently ranked 24th in the world – five places above Wales.
They also hammered Georgia 9-0 over their two semi-final legs to book their place in the play-off final.
That means they are likely to be strong favourites to make the tournament finals in Switzerland next summer, when Wales play at home in the opening leg on November 29 as they bid to make the finals of a major women’s tournament for the first time.
They will face the return in Dublin on December 3.
But even though the Irish will be heavily backed, even though the second leg will be in front of Irish fans, they do not have a player like Fishlock.
So long as she is fit and able to play in both matches, then Wales know anything is possible from whatever unpromising situation.