Harry Wilson admits Robert Lewandowski’s hunger for goals represents the biggest threat to Wales reaching Euro 2024.
Wales host Poland in a Euro 2024 play-off final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday with a place in Germany this summer at stake.
Only one place separates the two nations in the FIFA world rankings – Wales are 29th, Poland 30th – but the visitors possess one of football’s greatest-ever goalscorers in their ranks.
Lewandowski has scored 82 goals for Poland and the 35-year-old Barcelona striker is the fourth overall men’s international goalscorer in Europe behind Romelu Lukaku (83), Ferenc Puskas (84) and Cristiano Ronaldo (128).
“Everyone knows how dangerous he is,” said Fulham forward Wilson.
“His hunger to score goals is the biggest thing about him and he’s scored everywhere he’s been in his career.
“He might not be getting younger, but if we give him half a sniff at goal he’s going to take it.
“We need to make sure we stop him and don’t give him space or chances.
“If we do that we’re confident with the quality in our dressing room going the other way that we can really hurt them.”
Lewandowski failed to score as Poland booked their final place by thrashing Estonia 5-1 in Warsaw on Thursday, with Wilson saying: “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing ahead of our game.”
Wales also coasted to an emphatic 4-1 semi-final victory over Finland, with Wilson showing the form that Fulham fans have become accustomed to at Craven Cottage.
“I feel I have moved to the next level,” said Wilson. “The move to Fulham two-and-a-half years ago now was a big one for me.
“I’d been on a lot of loans from Liverpool. Although my dream as a young lad was to make it into Liverpool’s first team and play regularly, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case.
“When I was 18, 19 and 20, I was trying to get into the team but they had, arguably, the best front three in the world (Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane).
“So all the loans I went on really helped me to grow as a player and learn the game. It got to a stage in my life where I wanted to get settled from a personal side of things as well.
“So when the Fulham move came up, I spoke to Marco Silva and I feel it’s been the perfect move.”
Wilson celebrated his 27th birthday on Friday and is now among the senior players in Rob Page’s squad, having won his 50th cap last October.
“A lot of the boys are still really young,” said Wilson, who is aiming to play at a third major tournament after Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
“Ethan (Ampadu) is still only 23 and has 50 caps. That shows the experience we’ve got.
“Big Wayne (Hennessey), Ben Davies and Wardy (Danny Ward) have all been to three major tournaments already.
“They’ve been there and done it so they know what these big games are like. They are always helping the younger boys.”
Bayern Munich 3-0 Augsburg: Hat-trick hero Kane smashes Bundesliga record
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to become the quickest player to score 50 Bundesliga goals as Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Augsburg 3-0 on Friday.
Kane opened the scoring in the 63rd with a penalty before netting a quickfire double in second-half stoppage time to smash the record previously held by Erling Haaland.
Despite controlling the early possession, Bayern were unable to make their dominance count, with Nediljko Labrovic rarely troubled in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts maintained their dominance after the interval, with Leon Goretzka's looped header grazing the crossbar before Jamal Musiala went close soon after.
However, Bayern were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR review saw Mads Pedersen penalised for handling the ball, with Kane stepping up to score from 12 yards.
The England captain grabbed his second of the game in the third-minute of stoppage time following another VAR review which saw Keven Schlotterbeck sent off after tripping Kane inside the box.
Kane sent Labrovic the wrong way but was not to be denied a fourth treble of the season, brilliantly taking down Goretzka's searching ball before heading the ball home.
Data Debrief: HurriKane
Kane has now scored 50 Bundesliga goals in 43 matches. Before him, Haaland was the quickest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, having done so in 50 appearances in the competition for Borussia Dortmund.
He is also the quickest to reach that total for Bayern by some distance. Kane has reached that tally quicker than the likes of Gerd Muller (83 games), Mario Gomez (71 games), Roy Makaay (67 games) and Robert Lewandowski (64 games).
10 of Kane’s goals have come from penalties, while 32 of them have been with his right foot, nine with his left and nine with his head.
Messi 'will be our No.10 in 2026', hopes Inter Miami chief Mas
Inter Miami fully expect Lionel Messi to remain at the club beyond his current contract ahead of the 2026 MLS season.
Those were the words of Miami's club managing owner, Jorge Mas, who was speaking to the media following Gerardo Martino's resignation earlier on Friday.
Messi joined the MLS side in July 2023 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, leading the Herons to the Supporters' Shield and Leagues Cup during his time in the United States so far.
His current deal is due to expire at the end of next year, though Mas made clear his desire to see Messi remain with the Herons at Miami Freedom Park, the club's new stadium that will open in 2026.
"He’s under contract through 2025. Leo and I will sit, and we’ll discuss the future,” Mas said.
“As I’ve said before, and I will repeat it now: I fully expect that in the opening of our new stadium in 2026 in Miami and the opening of our 2026 season, hopefully after a trophy-laden 2025 season, that Lionel Messi will be our No. 10.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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