LAND OF MY FATHER
Dragons’ Dan owes World Cup place to late dad
DAN JAMES admits the World Cup will be emotional for him after crediting his late father for making it to the biggest stage with Wales.
The Fulham winger was rocked when his father Kevan passed away suddenly aged 60 in May 2019 and the grief remains raw.
His mother, brother, partner and baby will all be in Qatar to roar him on with Wales but there will be one huge absentee.
James owed his Welsh roots to his dad from Aberdare, who didn’t live to see his son’s dream move to Manchester United.
And the 25-year-old admits he might not have made it as a youngster with Hull and then Swansea, never mind represent the national team, were it not for his father.
James said: “Whenever I pull that Wales shirt on I always think of him. I wouldn’t be in this position today without him.
“He took me to a north Wales camp when I was 12 years old. He emailed the person there to say I was eligible to play for Wales.
“I got picked up at Swansea when I was 15 playing for Wales against Poland. I wouldn’t have played that game and may not have been at Swansea and ended up going to a World Cup.
“That Slovakia game when I scored on my debut he was there and I’m so glad that before he passed away he got to see me play for Wales. He took me everywhere, taking time off work to take me to places, to north Wales camps and ultimately he travelled to watch me play for Wales from 15, 16 and onwards. It’s down to him that I’m playing here.”
James was on the scoresheet at the weekend when he opened his account for new club Fulham in their 2-1 home loss to Manchester United in the Premier League.
It was his 13th appearance of the season after leaving Leeds on loan in search of regular football ahead of the World Cup.
James added: “Getting a goal means I’m going into it with full confidence.
“I wanted to play games and be fit coming into the tournament. It was always on my mind. It was tough, it was deadline day and it was last minute.
“But I was thinking about the World Cup because it’s one of the pinnacles of my career.”
James can now expect to come up against Fulham team-mates Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream in Wales’ opening game against USA on Monday.
He said: “They’ve said about giving me a few kicks in training. I’m just glad we’ve come out of the game on Sunday fit.
“Going to the World Cup they’ve got expectations of going through. With us it’s just about how we can go into every game believing we can win and with full confidence.”