Wales boss Rob Page has branded Cardiff City's Rubin Colwill a "wonderful asset" after he netted his first goal for his country in the 1-1 draw with Czech Republic on Tuesday night.
Steve Morison has only started Rubin Colwill 7 times since he took over as manager? ?
Wednesday 30th March 2022
By Glen Williams
Colwill's stock has risen exponentially over the last 14 months or so, ever since Mick McCarthy brought him into the first-team squad at Cardiff. Since then he has gained his first Bluebirds appearance, first international cap and experienced his first major international tournament.
It's been some year for a player who, at 19, is an immensely promising talent. For Cardiff, there was a great reliance on him at the beginning of the campaign, given there was such a dearth of creativity in the Bluebirds' squad. The loan signing of Tommy Doyle from Manchester City in January has alleviated that somewhat, but it has also hindered Colwill's game-time at club level.
Colwill is 20 years old next month and has started only seven league games for his club since Steve Morison took charge in October, having to endure a spell out of the squad over the last few months as he struggled to force his way into first-team plans. The team benefitted, had a better balance and the results came, so he could hardly argue with the call.
But the trouble is that when he is given a chance, he simply cannot be ignored. He produces impressive moments and displays a calmness which belies his 19 years. And his national team boss Page, who watched on as Colwill latched on to Brennan Johnson's ball after blistering run to get Wales back on terms, believes the youngster, who he described as an "intelligent No. 10" has the ability to shine all over the pitch if afforded the opportunity.
ROB PAGE:
"Rubin was my wildcard for the Euros and as soon as he trained with us I could see he had ability in abundance," Page said after the draw with the Czechs.
"I wanted to expose him to those experiences in the Euros, training with the likes of Gareth (Bale), Aaron (Ramsey), Joe (Allen), Ben Davies, Chris Gunter, the senior players. I wanted him to experience what it was like at an international tournament so that it's not alien to him in future tournaments when we qualify again.
"He is a talented player. I wanted to see him as a midfielder as well as a 10. I wanted to see him as an eight, because I think he has got the attributes to be an eight, he is a big, powerful runner, like we seen in the goal he scored against Liverpool, he is a powerful runner through the pitch.
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