WHERE THERE’S A WILL
Page creates a surprise by naming uncapped teenager in his Euro squad – but one of the heroes of 2016 is among those to miss out...
RUBIN Colwill has been included in Wales’ 26-man squad for Euro 2020. The 19-year-old made six appearances for Cardiff City’s first team in the latter half of the 2020-21 season and was included in Wales’ 28-man preliminary squad that took part in a training camp in Portugal last week.
And uncapped Colwill – who has represented his country at under-21 level – has sufficiently impressed the Welsh coaches to earn his place in the senior squad for this summer’s European Championships.
Stoke City midfielder Joe Allen and Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies have both been included despite their recent injuries.
Allen, who would have missed the tournament if it had been held last year after suffering a ruptured Achilles, has not played since March when he suffered calf and hamstring injuries while on international duty. But he has now recovered.
The same goes for Davies, who has been struggling with a calf injury since March.
Connor Roberts and Ben Cabango missed the training camp in Portugal due to their involvement in the Championship play-offs with Swansea City, although both have made the final squad for this summer’s showpiece event.
The same applies to Manchester United winger Daniel James, who featured for the Red Devils in their Europa League final loss to Villarreal last week.
Cardiff City midfielder Will Vaulks and West Brom striker Hal RobsonKanu did not feature in the Algarve training camp and have been omitted from the squad for the Euros.
Robson-Kanu was one of the heroes of Euro 2016, his famous goal in the quarter-final victory over Belgium in Lille one of the most memorable moments in Welsh football history.
But he was sent home from the Wales squad preparing for a World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic at the end of March for breaching squad protocols at the team hotel.
Rabbi Matondo – who was also sent home in that incident – and Tom Lawrence are among the other high-profile absentees.
Mark Harris, George Thomas and Tom Lockyer have all been left out having also featured in the recent five-day training camp.
Josh Sheehan, Brennan Johnson and Tom King are taking part in the EFL play-offs for Newport County but have failed to make the cut.
Euro 2016 heroes Wayne Hennessey, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Ward, Chris Gunter and Gareth Bale will be representing their country in the competition again this year.
Wales take on Switzerland in their opening group stage fixture of Euro 2020 on Saturday, June 12.
They then face Turkey four days later before ending the group phase against Italy in Rome on Sunday, June 20.
Page’s side take on France in a warm-up fixture on Wednesday before hosting Albania in front of 6,500 supporters at Cardiff City Stadium three days later in their final game prior to the Euros.