Poland will be tough but we’ll be confident, says James
Daniel James was delighted to celebrate the birth of his new baby by scoring on his 50th Wales appearance in the Euro play-off win over Finland. Wales’ 4-1 victory in Thursday’s semi-final up a home final against Poland on Tuesday, with a Euro 2024 place at stake in Germany this summer. James’s second-half appearance from the bench came after a busy few days for the Leeds winger following the birth of his second child with partner Ria. The 26-year-old (below) had arrived late into the Wales camp on Monday before adding to the best scoring season of his career with a 13th goal for club and country. “It was my newborn’s first game here and I’m delighted to have my 50th cap,” James said after acknowledging his new arrival with a thumbsucking goal celebration in front of a capacity Cardiff City Stadium crowd.
“It’s an honour for me and my family so hopefully there’s many more. To score four here shows we’ve got goals all over the pitch. Everyone’s come into camp whether playing or not fit and ready. We really gelled as a team and we’ve got to take that into Tuesday.”
Poland will represent a far tougher test in Cardiff than outgunned Finland.
They had an indifferent Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, losing three of their eight group games to finish behind Albania and the Czech Republic, but there is plenty of top-level European experience in Michal Probierz’s squad.
Robert Lewandowski remains their star turn at the age of 35 and has scored 82 international goals, although the Barcelona striker was not on the scoresheet in Thursday’s 5-1 semi-final rout of Estonia. Poland have beaten Wales in their past six meetings but are without the injured Matty Cash. “We’ve played them before and they’re a very good team,” James added. “It’s going to be a tough game. We’ve got a couple days now to settle from this one and then we’ll be straight on it. “To win 4-1 here is great, but the manager [Rob Page] said after the game that it’s only half-time. We’ve got a massive game on Tuesday now and we’re looking forward to it.”