Three best players will be relocating to Cardiff City

Colwill called back to senior team after ‘moments of magic’

Rubin Colwill will be back with the Wales senior squad for Tuesday’s Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland at Cardiff City Stadium.

The Cardiff playmaker scored the leveller against Lithuania in the under-21s’ Euro 2025 qualifier on Friday night before showing twinkle toes and a bullet pass to set up Lewis Koumas’ winner at Rodney Parade.

Rob Page had decided to leave Colwill out of the senior squad for the 4-1 win over Finland last Thursday, but he was in attendance at Newport to watch the 21-year-old run the show against Lithuania. And now it has been decided that Colwill will link back up with the senior squad.

“He will be back with the senior squad,” said U21s boss Matty Jones. “The alignment, I feel, has never been better between the two sides, because of the relationships with each other, we train with each other.

“It’s all been done deliberately so [Wales senior manager] Rob Page can cast his eyes and see when he needs to make a decision.

“It’s working really well, we have to trust each other, there has to be a plan in place to manage them.”

Colwill took his goal well on Friday night, but his dribble and pass to Koumas for the winner arguably caught the eye even more. It’s the sort of “magic,” as Jones puts it, which has earned him a call-up back to the senior team.

“We know we have an abundance of quality within the squad, who are having great success at club level,” Jones said after the match. “Someone like Rubin, who shows moments of magic you just don’t see at this level of football.”

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Bothroyd’s third-degree burns on Cardiff tour as he opens up on epilepsy

Jay Bothroyd has opened up about living with epilepsy and how it affected his life in football.

Bothroyd is a Cardiff legend following his stellar stay in south Wales, during which time he scored 41 goals in 133 games and earned an England cap. He is the only footballer to play in the Premier League and for England while living with epilepsy.

During an interview with the Daily Mail, he spoke about one time during a pre-season tour of Portugal with Cardiff when one seizure caused horrendous damage to his skin.

“We went out and had a few beers,” he said. “Next day it was really hot, but I trained well and felt fine, then was walking back to the hotel and blacked out on top of a car, having a seizure. It was a black car that had been out in the heat all day. My arm singed, and it was lucky my face didn’t. I woke up in hospital, I didn’t know what had happened.

“It was f***ing s*** for months, healing – deep, layers of skin, third-degree burns. It was bad, especially when you’re changing your dressing – you can see the wound is red-raw, but you’re peeling it back. I should have had a skin graft. It was so, so painful – and I continued playing! I had bandages all over my arm and leg. It’s painful when you’re barging someone with no skin.”

He regrets not speaking about his epilepsy more openly during his career. Not all of Bothroyd’s team-mates from his 12-club career knew he had the condition. However, he thought it might have impacted moves and contracts.

He added: “I wish I’d have spoken about epilepsy earlier but I didn’t because I felt that they might give me a short-term contract or pay-as-you-play,’ he admits. ‘I never denied it, I just didn’t talk about it. I had to earn a living. I wanted security for myself and my family. There’s probably more footballers out there that have the same condition who won’t say anything.”

Bothroyd is now actively working with the charity Young Epilepsy to educate and inspire children with the condition. They are hosting a football camp in Trent Park, north London, for children aged seven to 11 on April 11. All proceeds from the camp go to Young Epilepsy.

Jamilu: It’s a privilege to be back with Nigeria

Jamilu Collins has said it is a “privilege” to pull on the Nigeria jersey again.

The Cardiff left-back came on late in the game against Ghana, a game the Super Eagles won 2-1, with a clash against Mali next up. Speaking about the Nigeria camp, Collins said: “To be honest, it feels really good to be in this wonderful team. Obviously, Super Eagles is the best in Africa at the moment and I hope it stays for a long time for us and for our nation,” Collins said.