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Football history is littered with stand-out names who, despite outstanding individual exploits and remarkable club success, went their entire careers without playing at a major international tournament. For a long time, Jess Fishlock, one of the best midfielders in the history of the NWSL - the top-flight in the United States - looked set to unwittingly add her name to that list.
Across a 19-year international career that has seen her firmly establish herself as Wales' greatest-ever women's footballer, Fishlock has been part of nine failed attempts to take the Dragons to either a European Championship or a Women's World Cup. You could forgive her if, at times, she believed it was never going to happen. But then it did.
Wales didn't certainly do it the easy way, needing extra-time to beat Slovakia and to win in Dublin to overcome Ireland over two legs, but Wales finally got over the line for what Fishlock, now 38 years old, described as "the proudest moment" of her storied career. And now, as the 2025 European Championship gets under way, comes the opportunity she and the whole country have been waiting for - and, as a little added bonus, there's a chance to throw a spanner in the works of England's title defence, too.