One of the many Wales squad players to have played for Swansea City has spoken out about how much it means to be playing for his country at this years World Cup. Dan James who was picked up by the swans when he was fifteen has explained how much of an impact his father has had on him playing for Wales.

It’s not as if many people don’t know already about the strong bond between father and son that brought Dan James to Swansea, but it’s heart warming to read and we are now in a World Cup environment. And anyway, it’s a first for us. Documenting this World Cup is an obligation more than anything.

Now with thirty eight appearances for Wales and five goals Dan is a likely starter on Monday against the United States Mens National Team ( USMNT ) However, he cannot praise his father enough for the effort and sacrifices he made to enable Dan’s future before he passed away at sixty in 2019. 'It's down to him that I'm playing here today,' said James, whose father came from Aberdare in the Cynon Valley. Whenever I pull that Wales shirt on I always think of him”

Connecting with his Wales team mates in South Wales Dan will never forget his fathers devotion to getting him to where he is today. “He took me to 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 fifteen playing for Wales against Poland. I wouldn't have played that game, and may not have been at Swansea and end up going to a World Cup but for him. 'When I scored on my debut against Slovakia 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. Ultimately he travelled to watch me play for Wales”

James made his debut for Swansea City in February 2018 scoring in the eighty second minute in the 8-1 demolition of Notts County. Speaking of his father Kevan. "He was the one that let me go down to Swansea to play for them. It was hard for my mum and my dad to let me go because they wouldn't see me as much, but I wouldn't be here today without that." Dan was first called up to the Wales squad by then manager Chris Coleman in 2018 and has been pretty much a fixture in the side since then.

Cymru captain Gareth Bale see’s this competition as offering differing degrees of success dependent on who you speak to. "Everyone has their own opinion of what success is. For some people success would just be qualifying for this tournament. For us, we're going in with the mindset of taking each game as it comes, we're going to give 110% and whatever comes of that it's been a successful journey for us. We'll be doing everything we can to qualify out of the group and go as far as we can but we just need to do what we do best and give all our hearts for the shirt. Bale has vowed to wear the OneLove armband, to show support to groups that face discrimination, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. He said: "The most we can do as footballers is make awareness, it's for people higher up to make those decisions and to hopefully make the change for the better. We support everything in terms of the armband, we'll be supporting everything and doing as much as we can to hopefully get change in the right way."

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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