AFC Bournemouth
David Brooks came on as a late substitute as Wales secured passage to the last 16 of Euro 2020.
Despite a 1-0 defeat against Italy, Wales showed tremendous spirit against the Group A leaders in Rome, with Ethan Ampadu sent off 30 minutes before the end.
The win for Italy, thanks to Matteo Pessina's first-half finish, was their 30th consecutive match without defeat, but the Welsh dug deep against one of the tournament favourites.
Brooks wasn’t able to change the scoreline and came on for Robert Page’s men four minutes from time, replacing skipper Gareth Bale.
A picture can say a thousand words.#WAL | #EURO2020 | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/0iNH3fVVoV
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) June 20, 2021
It was Brooks’ second appearance of the tournament off the bench, while fellow Cherries man Chris Mepham was an unused sub – despite the defender impressing in both of the previous group games.
Despite the defeat, Wales qualified in second place in Group A due to a superior goal difference over Switzerland, who won 3-1 against Turkey.
Brooks and Mepham now have a last-16 match against Group B's runners-up in Amsterdam next Saturday to look forward to.
