Cymru U21 defender Matt Baker visits Maindee Primary School ahead of final qualifier

Cymru U21 defender Matt Baker surprised pupils at a primary school in Newport on Wednesday.

Pupils from Year 6 in Maindee Primary School, which is a stone’s throw away from where Cymru will conclude their qualifying campaign against Czechia on Friday 11 October, were treated to a special visit from the Newport County AFC defender.

The school will be bringing 180 pupils to Cymru’s final training session ahead of the game and were given the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with Baker about his football career and representing Cymru on the international stage.

The children were also offered tickets for the qualifier, which is expected to bring in the highest home crowd in Cymru’s 2025 qualifying campaign.

Matty Jones’ side sit joint top of Group I with Denmark after earning four wins and two draws from seven games in their qualifying campaign so far.

Cymru can secure automatic qualification for the UEFA U21 EURO finals if they better Denmark’s result in their final qualifier. 

While a draw against Czechia would be enough for Cymru to seal at least a play-off for the first time since 2008.

Tickets for the qualifier are still available to purchase at faw.cymru/tickets, while the match will be available to watch live on Sgorio.

Head coach Matty Jones said: “We need the support from everyone as we head into the final game of the qualifying campaign against Czechia.

“I think we’ve done incredibly well over the course of the campaign in terms of smashing records with attendances.

“Hopefully this game will create some excitement around our group, people will be aware of the great things that these boys are doing and that support will bring us even more success.

“We are set up for a special finish to what has already been a wonderful campaign.”

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