Support our Nation today - please donate here
Sport

Watch: The brilliant surprise planned by a father for his Wales fan daughter

05 Sep 2022 4 minute read
Before and after: Zara finding out she’s going to Greece and with her signed shirt (Credit: Carl Adamiec)

It’s been quite the few days for Zara Adamiec.

One minute the 13-year-old is thinking she’s off to Crawley for a football conference, the next she’s on an airplane bound for Greece.

Zara, a football mad teenager who plays for Ystradgynlais AFC u14s Girls and also the u15s boys team, is a huge fan of the Wales women’s side, and regularly travels with her dad, Carl, to games.

Her dad, also a dedicated Wales fan, decided to surprise his daughter by hatching an elaborate plot that thankfully she had no idea about.

“Zara thought she was going to represent Ystradgynlais Girls AFC at a female football confrence at Crawley Town,” said Carl.

“Her football coach Matthew Strangwood was in on the plan, and even designed a fake flyer for the event and asked her as the team captain to represent the club.”

As you can see from the video below, Zara was not expecting what happened next – her dad revealing that they weren’t going to Crawley, but on a plane to watch Wales women in their crucial World Cup qualifier against Greece.

It was all a little too much for a shocked Zara who was overcome with emotion at the brilliant surprise.

The fun didn’t stop there for the Ysgol Bro Dur Ystalyfera pupil. After witnessing Cymru winning 1-0 in a hard fought game, she celebrated with the other dedicated Wales supporters who had made their way to Greece.

However, she was also rewarded by the Wales squad with a signed shirt and bucket hat as a thank you for travelling to support the team.

“She was chuffed to bits,” said Carl. “Her dream was to get a signed top from one of the Welsh girls , but to get one signed by the whole squad and (Wales manager) Gemma Grainger herself made her dreams come true.

Zara has put a tweet out thanking the team and saying how proud and privileged she is.

Watch Zara receive her signed shirt and hat from the Wales squad

And watch the view from the other side of the fence

Zara even had time before boarding a plane home to be interviewed by Radio Cymru, when she detailed how she still couldn’t believe her luck.

“I still can’t believe I’m here and that I’ve been to the match,” she said.

“We got to Greece around 1am on Thursday. We walked around to have a look at things and had a bit of a drink with the other fans.

“There weren’t many people at the game but everyone knew each other or we could get to know each other. It’s great.

“Everyone was singing. It was a lot of fun.

“It wasn’t the best ever performance – the players were quite nervous. But we got the three points and that’s what we came to do.

Zara added that she would be at the crucial World Cup qualifier against Slovenia. A win or a draw would see Wales clinch a World Cup playoff spot.

“I am going to Slovenia of course. If we can not be nervous and if we play as we usually do we’ll have no trouble getting through.”

A record crowd will be in attendance when Wales play Slovenia. More than 11,000 tickets ahem so far been sold. To find out more and buy a ticket click HERE


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.