CARRIE Jones shared her pride after being part of the Welsh side which lost 2-0 in the USA on Friday night.
The Newtown raised Manchester United midfielder was joined by Liverpool winger Ceri Holland in the line-up with the latter qualifying for Wales through her Llanrhaeadr born mother.
Jones spoke of her pride as part of the first Welsh women’s team to ever play in the United States against a side which is largely predicted to win the World Cup this summer.
Jones said: “Going into the game we had the belief because there is no point coming into game without believing you can get a result.
“We knew we could potentially take something and obviously we have taken massive learnings from the game.
“It was a really positive performance from us.”
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The match also represented a dream come true for the Powys star.
She said: “It was such a pinch myself moment all the time. For me growing up watching the 2019 World Cup all of that team is full of players that I have looked up to my whole life so was just a very special occasion for me.
“I got Sofia Huerta’s shirt at the end but the good thing is she asked me, I didn’t ask her, so that’s all I am saying.”
The highly ranked hosts struck twice through Trinity Rodman to settle the outcome at San Jose’s PayPal Park.
Despite being without key players Jess Fishlock, Rachel Rowe and captain Sophie Ingle, Wales pushed the United States all the way in the heat of San Jose and were denied a famous result only by two late goals from substitute Rodman.
For all their dominance, Wales stood up to the challenge and put in a well-organised and disciplined defensive display to subdue the fans who had come to send their heroes off to the World Cup on a high.
The United States continued to dominate proceedings in the second-half but Wales more than matched their opponents physically.
However, the United States eventually went ahead when Smith squared the ball to substitute Trinity Rodman and she made no mistake to net from close range.
Rodman then scored her second of the game on 87 minutes as she struck a superb effort from outside the area into the top corner of the net.
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