International round-up | Ollie Cooper makes Wales debut

29th March
Club
Ollie Cooper Wales

Swansea City’s Ollie Cooper won his first cap for Wales as he made his senior debut as a late substitute in the European Championship qualifier against Latvia.

The Swans midfielder was introduced in the closing stages as Rob Page’s side secured a 1-0 victory to sit level on points with Croatia at the top of Group D.

Centre-half Ben Cabango also came on at the Cardiff City Stadium, winning his sixth cap in the process.

Olivier Ntcham, meanwhile, was an unused substitute as Cameroon suffered a 2-1 defeat to Namibia in their African Cup of Nations qualifier.

Ben Cabango Wales

At age-group level, Nathan Wood made his debut for England Under-21s as he played the full 90 minutes in their 2-1 friendly defeat against Croatia at Craven Cottage.

Academy trio Iwan Morgan, Jacob Cook and Kit Margetson helped Wales Under-17s qualify for the Uefa 2023 European Championships thanks to a draw against Montenegro at Dragon Park.

It is the first time Wales have qualified for a men’s age-group tournament since 1981, and the first time the under-17s have qualified for a major tournament in history.

The point secured in Newport – with Morgan on the scoresheet in the 2-2 draw - sees the young Dragons advance to the finals in Hungary in May.

At under-21 level, Swansea striker Josh Thomas was on the scoresheet as Wales wrapped up a 3-0 friendly win over Scotland  in Pinatar.

Josh Thomas

Joel Cotterill came on as a substitute for the young Dragons, while Azeem Abdulai started for Scotland.

Abdulai had received his first call-up this month and made his debut as a substitute against Sweden before starting against his club-mates as Scotland prepare for their European qualification campaign, which starts later this year.

Swansea City Under-18s’ midfielder Dan Watts was in action for Rob Edwards’ Wales Under-19s in their double header against Scotland.  

The 17-year-old featured in both games, coming on as substitute in the first game at Buckley Town before starting the second game at Colliers Park.

The young Dragons came out on top in both games, winning 2-1 and 2-0 respectively.