Lego and tattoos - Wales' role model goalkeeper

Safia Middleton-Patel joined Manchester United from Liverpool in the summer of 2020

Nations League: Denmark v Wales

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

Coverage: Live on BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, the BBC Sport website and app, plus live text commentary

Highlights: S4C and BBC iPlayer, 21:35 BST and later on demand.

She is the Manchester United and Wales rookie who is already a role model.

And, with Euro 2025 around the corner, has been showing why plenty have tipped her to become her country's future number one.

Safia Middleton-Patel is the 20-year-old goalkeeper who has hailed Mary Earps as an idol but is beginning to make a name for herself.

Her performance on her competitive international debut last month helped Wales to an eye-catching 1-1 draw in Sweden.

But she has also earned praise off the pitch for helping break down stigmas around autism after speaking publicly about her own diagnosis.

It has been some journey so far for a young player who is rarely seen without a smile or her sunglasses, but whose shot-stopping could be seen on the European stage this summer.

From school holiday camps to international call-ups

Becoming a footballer – and certainly a goalkeeper – was not always the plan for the player who hails from Wrexham and is known around the Wales camp as simply Saf.

After a very early dabble with street dancing or any other sport on offer in the local village, Middleton-Patel was eventually "thrown" into football.

"I was the only girl on the team unfortunately, it wasn't very big back then," she told BBC Sport Wales back in 2023.

"I went to a summer camp every year with the lads. None of them wanted to go in goal so just throw the young girl in goal.

"But to be fair I enjoyed it, I loved putting the boys down and saving them, making them angry."

It was the pathway to regional talent centres and then joining Liverpool's academy before signing for Manchester United as a 15-year-old in 2020.

By 2022 she had worked her way into the United matchday squad for the first time, with a professional contract following in January 2023 at a club where she says she learned much from watching former team-mate Earps up close.

Proud heritage

Fiercely proud of the Welsh dragon she has worn right through the age groups, Middleton-Patel – whose father is Indian - is proud also of her south Asian heritage.

United believe her to be the first player of Indian background to feature in one of their senior squads for either the women's or the men's sides.

And – having been first called into the Wales senior set-up in September 2022 before winning a first cap in a 1-0 friendly win over the Philippines in February 2023's Pinatar Cup – she followed in the footsteps of Euro 2016 hero Neil Taylor, another Wales international with Indian heritage.

"I'm very proud," she has said of her background. "I'm very fortunate to be in a position to hopefully inspire a younger generation to be like 'I can do that too' and believe in themselves."

Autism awareness

That first Wales cap at the age of just 18 led to a pivotal moment for a player who said she always felt "different".

Coming in the same week as making her first Championship appearance one day after joining Coventry United on loan, Middleton-Patel has spoken on how the overload of emotions proved to be a tipping point.

"I couldn't function, I couldn't speak, I couldn't regulate my temperature," she said, deciding to seek help and finding some clarity with a diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

"I was being so hard on myself and struggling with simple daily activities. I said 'I think there's something wrong with me' but now I look at it, there was nothing wrong with me, it was just the way my brain worked."

She went public with her diagnosis in September 2023 with a post on social media, and has regularly spoken about how she hopes she can be a positive influence, having hailed Lucy Bronze for doing the same.

Goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel says building Lego has helped her cope with her Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Lego and tattoos

Middleton-Patel has since described her ASD as something of a superpower, and says she is able to hyper focus at times while in goal.

But she has also developed her ways of coping – with those sunglasses among the tools, while the therapy of building Lego has seen a club formed at United with close pals Jess Simpson, Leah Galton and Rachel Williams, and new boxes being brought onto international duty on a regular basis.

There is even a Lego tattoo amid the Welsh daffodils – with the date of her debut – and a nod to her Harry Potter super fan status inked on her arm.

But it is what she can do with her hands that could make the biggest mark.

With veteran Laura O'Sullivan-Jones injured for the tournament, Middleton-Patel gave Rhian Wilkinson plenty to think about with her recent player of the match performance in Gothenburg.

While winning just her third cap, she made eight saves in the biggest game of her career.

"Outstanding," as former forward Gwennan Harries put it.

Many Welsh football fans will be hoping it is just the start for a player who has already inspired on and off the pitch.