Ronan Kpakio relishing Romania challenge with Wales U17

City trio Ronan Kpakio, Jac Thomas and Jake Davies will all be in international action tomorrow, as Wales U17 take on Romania. 

The side are competing in Group Two of the Elite Round of the 2024 European U17 Championship.

Ahead of tomorrow’s clash, we caught up with the Bluebirds’ Kpakio, who has had a season of progress for both club and country.

“Preparation has been good so far, everyone is excited and focused,” Ronan began. “We know that we’re here to do a job and that’s to progress. Everyone is in the right mindset and we’re doing the right things. That has been driven by the coaches, it’s really good that we know what we want to do going forward and we’re focused on that. 

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got a really good chance of getting a good result against them. We’ve played them before, so we know how they play and we know we can beat them. With the quality that we have and our work ethic, we’ve got a really good chance.”

In Group Two, Wales will also face Sweden and Bulgaria, aiming to repeat the achievements of last year’s age group, who qualified for the European U17 Championship Finals in 2023, the first time since 1981. 

Whilst there are familiar faces on camp in Thomas and Davies, along with coach Dane Facey, the Wales U17 squad are a tightly-knit group.

Ronan concluded: “There are a lot of boys from different clubs on camp, but everyone has a lot of quality and there’s a reason why we’re all here. Everyone trusts each other and we all know what each other are capable of. Hopefully, we can show everyone what we can do.

“Some of us have known each other for a long time now and have really bonded together. Even if it’s people’s first or second camps, it’s really easy to fit in. Everyone’s really tied together. That helps us both on and off the pitch.”