Ryan Giggs is keen to introduce his young guns to Welsh football supporters in North Wales on Monday.
Wales manager Giggs is ending a 10 year gap by taking his squad to Wrexham’s Racecourse Stadium on Monday – and he’ll be revealing a glimpse of the future.
It’s been a decade since the Welsh squad have appeared at the Racecourse and Giggs says it’s a thank-you to the dedicated North Wales based fans, who have travelled the length of Wales and beyond to support the team.
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“I was really keen to have a training session in the north,” he said.”We have great supporters who regularly travel down to Cardiff to support.
“This is a thank-you to them and an opportunity for new fans in the north to see the players first-hand.
“It’ll be a great day at the Racecourse and I hope the fans come to support us.”
The stadium will open from 10am on Monday (May 21), the training session is free to attend and the Mold Stand will be open for spectators.
Giggs will use the session, which starts at 10.30am, to help prepare his squad for the match against Mexico in Los Angeles on Monday, May 28.
There are a number of uncapped players heading to California with Wales including George Thomas, Matthew Smith, Cameron Coxe, Luke Pilling and Regan Poole.
The impressive Coxe was involved in Cardiff City’s pre-season tour to Cornwall a year ago and is highly-rated by coach staff, while former Newport County defender Regan Poole is now with Manchester United.
There are seven players from the Wales under-21 team who faced Bosnia-Herzegovina in March making the trip to face Mexico.
Giggs has named 32 players ahead of the Wrexham training camp and clash with Mexico, who field an experienced and powerful squad as they work towards the Fifa World Cup finals this summer.
Captain Andres Guardado (Real Betis) and Rafael Marquez (Atlas) have each earned almost 150 international caps, while West Ham’s Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy) have both topped the century mark.
Real Sociedad’s Hector Morena has represented Mexico on 91 occasions.
Those numbers far outstrip the number of caps within the Welsh squad with Giggs looking to the future.
Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Hal Robson-Kanu return, but Joe Allen and Neil Taylor miss out through injury.
Gareth Bale, Ben Woodburn and Danny Ward are also missing. They will be representing their clubs in next week’s Uefa Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Wales follow their fixture against Mexico with Uefa Nations League fixtures, while they return to the Principality Stadium for the October International Challenge Match against Spain.
Wales have not played at the stadium based in Cardiff City centre stadium since 2011, but they take on Spain there on Thursday, October 11.
Jonathan Ford, FAW Chief Executive, said: “We are playing against Spain, arguably the most successful international side in world football during the past few years.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for supporters to see a great team and World class players.”
This will be the first clash between Wales and Spain since 1985 when goals from Ian Rush (2) and Mark Hughes secured a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory at the Racecourse, Wrexham.
Welsh international fixtures
May
Tuesday 29 Mexico v Wales (friendly at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, 2pm)
September
Thursday 6 Wales v Ireland (Uefa Nations League at Cardiff City Stadium, 7.45pm)
Sunday 9 Denmark v Wales (Uefa Nations League at Ceres Park, Aarhus, 5pm)
October
Thursday 11 Wales v Spain (friendly at Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 7.45pm)
Tuesday 16 Republic of Ireland v Wales (Uefa Nations League at tba, 7.45pm)
November
Friday 16 Wales v Denmark (Uefa Nations League at Cardiff City Stadium, 7.45pm)
Tuesday 20 Albania v Wales (friendly, Elbasen Arena, Elbasen, TBA)
Squads for next match
Mexico:
Goalkeepers
Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege) 92 caps/0 goals
Jose de Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul) 51/0
Alfredo Talavera (Toluca) 27/0
Defenders
Rafael Marquez (Atlas) 143/8
Hector Morena (Real Sociedad) 91/3
Miguel Layun (Sevilla) 62/6
Diego Reyes (Porto) 55/1
HUgo Ayala (UANL) 40/1
Nestor Araujo (Santos Laguna) 27/3
Oswaldo Alanis (Getafe) 21/2
Jesus Gellardo (Monterrey) 20/0
Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt) 18/0
Edson Alvarez (America) 18/0
Midfield
Andres Guardado (capt, Betis) 144/25
Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy) 102/18
Hector Herrera (Porto) 63/5
Javier Aquino (UANL) 51/0
Marco Fabian (Eintracht Frankfurt) 36/9
Jesus Molina (Monterrey) 31/0
Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy) 29/0
Jurgen Damm (UANL) 9/1
Erick Gutierrez (Pachuca) 9/0
Forwards
Javier Hernandez (West Ham United) 100/49
Carlos Vela (Los Angeles) 67/18
Oribe Peralta (America) 64/26
Raul Jimenez (Benfica) 62/13
Jesus Manuel Corona (Porto) 33/7
Hirving Lozano (PSV) 26/7
Wales
Goalkeepers
Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace) 75/0
Chris Maxwell (Preston North End) 0/0
Adam Davies (Barnsley) 0/0
Luke Pilling (Tranmere Rovers) 0/0
Defenders
Ashley Williams (capt, Everton) 78/2
Ashley Richards (Cardiff City) 13/0
Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) 38/0
Chris Gunter (Reading) 87/0
Declan John (Rangers) 4/0
Connor Roberts (Swansea City) 1/0
Christopher Mepham (Brentford) 1/0
Regan Poole (Manchester United) 0/0
Joe Rodon (Swansea City) 0/0
Adam Matthews (Sunderland) 14/0
Cameron Coxe (Cardiff City) 0/0
Tom Lockyer (Bristol Rovers) 3/0
Midfield
Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) 52/13
Joe Ledley (Derby County) 76/4
Dan James (Swansea City) 0/0
George Thomas (Leicester City) 0/0
George Williams (St Johnstone, on loan from Fulham) 7/0
Matthew Smith (Manchester City) 0/0
Lee Evans (Sheffield United) 3/0
Andy King (Leicester City) 46/2
Ryan Hedges (Barnsley) 2/0
Marley Watkins (Norwich City) 2/0
Forwards
Tom Lawrence (Derby County) 12/2
Harry Wilson (Liverpool) 3/1
Sam Vokes (Burnley) 58/10
Tom Bradshaw (Barnsley) 3/0
David Brooks (Sheffield United) 2/0
Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) 44/5
