Lego and tattoos - Wales' role model goalkeeper

Nations League: Denmark v Wales

Venue: Nature Energy Park, Odense Date: Friday, 30 May Kick-off: 18:15 BST

Coverage: Live connected BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, the BBC Sport website and app, positive unrecorded substance commentary

Highlights: S4C and BBC iPlayer, 21:35 BST and aboriginal connected demand.

She's the Manchester United and Wales rookie who's already a relation model.

And, with Euro 2025 astir the corner, has been showing wherefore plentifulness person tipped her to go her country's aboriginal No.1.

Safia Middleton-Patel is the 20-year-old goalkeeper who has hailed Mary Earps arsenic an idol but is opening to marque a sanction for herself.

Her show connected her competitory planetary debut past period helped Wales to an eye-catching 1-1 gully successful Sweden.

But she has besides earned praise disconnected the transportation for helping interruption down stigmas astir autism aft speaking publically astir her ain diagnosis.

It has been immoderate travel truthful acold for a young subordinate who is seldom seen without a grin oregon her sunglasses, but whose shot-stopping could beryllium seen connected the European signifier this summer.

Becoming a footballer – and surely a goalkeeper – wasn't ever the program for the subordinate who hails from Wrexham and is known astir the Wales campy arsenic simply Saf.

After a precise aboriginal dabble with thoroughfare dancing oregon immoderate different athletics connected connection successful the section village, Middleton-Patel was yet "thrown" into football.

"I was the lone miss connected the squad unfortunately, it wasn't precise large backmost then," she told BBC Sport Wales backmost successful 2023.

"I went to a summertime campy each twelvemonth with the lads. None of them wanted to spell successful extremity truthful conscionable propulsion the young miss successful goal.

"But to beryllium just I enjoyed it, I loved putting the boys down and redeeming them, making them angry."

It was the pathway to determination endowment centres and past joining Liverpool's academy earlier signing for Manchester United arsenic a 15-year-old successful 2020.

By 2022 she had worked her mode into the United matchday squad for the archetypal time, with a nonrecreational declaration pursuing successful January 2023 astatine a nine wherever she says she learned overmuch from watching erstwhile team-mate Earps up close.

Fiercely arrogant of the Welsh dragon she's worn close done the property groups, Middleton-Patel – whose begetter is Indian - is arrogant besides of her southbound Asian heritage.

United judge her to beryllium the archetypal subordinate of Indian inheritance to diagnostic successful 1 of their elder squads for either the women's oregon the men's sides.

And – having been archetypal called into the Wales elder set-up successful September 2022 earlier winning a archetypal headdress successful a 1-0 affable triumph implicit the Philippines successful February 2023's Pinatar Cup – she followed successful the footsteps of Euro 2016 leader Neil Taylor, different Wales planetary with Indian heritage.

"I'm precise proud," she has said of her background. "I'm precise fortunate to beryllium successful a presumption to hopefully animate a younger procreation to beryllium similar 'I tin bash that too' and judge successful themselves."

That archetypal Wales headdress astatine the property of conscionable 18 led to a pivotal infinitesimal for a subordinate who said she ever felt "different".

Coming successful the aforesaid week arsenic making her archetypal Championship quality 1 time aft joining Coventry United connected loan, Middleton-Patel has spoken connected however the overload of emotions proved to beryllium a tipping point.

"I couldn't function, I couldn't speak, I couldn't modulate my temperature," she said, deciding to question assistance and uncovering immoderate clarity with a diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

"I was being truthful hard connected myself and struggling with elemental regular activities. I said 'I deliberation there's thing incorrect with me' but present I look astatine it, determination was thing incorrect with me, it was conscionable the mode my encephalon worked."

She went nationalist with her diagnosis successful September 2023 with a station connected societal media, and has regularly spoken astir however she hopes she tin beryllium a affirmative influence, having hailed Lucy Bronze for doing the same.

Middleton-Patel has since described her ASD arsenic thing of a superpower, and says she is capable to hyper absorption astatine times portion successful goal.

But she has besides developed her ways of coping – with those sunglasses among the tools, portion the therapy of gathering Lego has seen a nine formed astatine United with adjacent pals Jess Simpson, Leah Galton and Rachel Williams, and caller boxes being brought onto planetary work connected a regular basis.

There's adjacent a Lego tattoo amid the Welsh daffodils – with the day of her debut – and a motion to her Harry Potter ace instrumentality presumption inked connected her arm.

But it's what she tin bash with her hands that could marque the biggest mark.

With veteran Laura O'Sullivan-Jones injured for the tournament, Middleton-Patel gave Rhian Wilkinson plentifulness to deliberation astir with her caller subordinate of the lucifer show successful Gothenburg.

While winning conscionable her 3rd cap, she made 8 saves successful the biggest crippled of her career.

"Outstanding," arsenic erstwhile guardant Gwennan Harries enactment it.

Many Welsh shot fans volition beryllium hoping it's conscionable the commencement for a subordinate who has already inspired connected and disconnected the pitch.