Eardley central to Welsh plans

NEAL EARDLEY . . . making his mark for Wales at under-21 and senior level.

ATHLETIC defender Neal Eardley looks on course for a long international career with Wales.

Eardley has won eight full caps and is the proud captain of his country’s under-21s – a record he has achieved while still in his teens.

Wales boss John Toshack is trying to mould a new-look squad with a young foundation, and the Athletic full-back has been one of the beneficiaries.

Eardley, who reaches his 20th birthday later this week and has made over 100 club appearances, can already look back on a host of big international nights.

Most recent was the two-legged play-off against England for a place in the European Under-21 Championships.

And at full level, Eardley has featured in high-profile Euro 2008 qualifiers against both San Marino and the Republic of Ireland, plus several friendlies.

He said: “I’m still young so I’m glad to be involved in any squad, whether it’s the under-21s or the full team.

“It’s a great honour to be called up by your country and you can learn a great deal from working with such good players.

“I really look up to people like Craig Bellamy and Jason Koumas, who have had very good careers at the highest level.

“And everybody admires Ryan Giggs – he has retired from international football but did so much for Wales.

“These are people playing week in, week out, in the best league in the world, so to train and play with them is brilliant.

“It can only benefit myself and Oldham, and I’m hoping to get some more full caps because the other lads who play in my position are still fairly young like me.

“I’ve been involved with the under-21s for quite a while (Eardley made his debut aged 17), but it came as a surprise when I was given the captaincy.

“That was against Romania a few weeks ago and it happened because the usual captain, Joe Jacobson, was out injured, but I was chuffed to keep the job for the England games.

“Those were big games because there was a lot at stake and, if you looked at the England side, their starting XI was made up of Premier League players.

“We were unlucky to lose 5-4 over two legs and miss out on the European Championships, but we sent out a message for the next campaign.”

Eardley has been involved with Wales from under-17s upwards and made his debut for the full team in August last year.

He went on as a substitute for Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and helped to close out a morale-boosting victory in Bulgaria.

A few weeks later Eardley was thrust into competitive action, starting the Euro 2008 match in San Marino.

He then played in a tense qualifier against the Republic of Ireland which ended in a 2-2 draw, with Koumas scoring twice for Wales and Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle on target for the Irish.

His remaining caps were in friendlies with Norway, Luxembourg, Iceland, Holland and Georgia, while Eardley’s next target is to be called into the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup.

Wales are grouped with Germany, Russia and Finland, among others, and hope to reach their first World Cup finals since 1958.