Ben Cabango will always have something to remember Wales’ victory over Norway by. The Swansea City defender asked Erling Haaland for his shirt after the final whistle at the Cardiff City Stadium, where Wales beat the World Cup quarter-finalists 2-1 in the Nations League.
“I did grab it after the game,” Cabango said. “He was just there, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ He just gave me the shirt… but he didn’t take mine.”
It was a notable night all round for the defender, who kept the Manchester City striker quiet as Wales claimed their first win in seven games. Dan James and Neco Williams scored after Oscar Bobb had given Norway an early lead, and the result was Wales’ first ever win in Nations League A. Cabango earned his 18th senior cap, having been recalled to the starting line-up following the 2-0 defeat against Denmark in Copenhagen. He had also played in the opening Nations League game against Portugal in Lisbon, where he faced Cristiano Ronaldo.
“It is surreal to play against Ronaldo and Haaland in the same camp,” Cabango said. “But it’s definitely where you want to be, stay around that for as long as possible. You learn a lot playing against these players. You’ve got to be concentrated throughout the game and you can’t switch off at any moment. That probably brings out the best side of me and it’s been good.”
The 26-year-old, a member of Wales’ squad at the 2022 World Cup finals, rated the display as the high point of his international career so far. “I’d probably say it was my best game for Wales,” he added. “I enjoyed the game, it was a good battle and we came out on top. I enjoy that side of the game. The ball’s there to be won and I’m going to try and win it 100 per cent of the time and today it paid off. We needed to bounce back from the last game and I felt we all did that as a collective. All the squad, the players that came on, it was a real good performance.”
Head coach Craig Bellamy singled out Cabango and his defensive partner, captain Ben Davies, for the way they subdued Haaland and Norway’s forward line. “They were brilliant – really, really good,” Bellamy said. “But the key part of that, which we mentioned before [the game] and the work we had done, was to keep them away from our box. It’s easier said than done but that’s why we were constantly pushing, constantly working to keep them as far away as we can. They were exceptional.”