Lewin Nyatanga
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lewin John Nyatanga | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Central defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Barnsley (on loan from Derby County) | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:44, 16 July 2007 (UTC) | |||
Lewin John Nyatanga (born August 18 1988 in Burton upon Trent, England) is an English born Welsh football defender who plays for Wales at international level. He attended Littleover Community School and currently plays for Barnsley F.C. in the Championship on a loan deal from Derby County which runs until 01.01.08
Nyatanga qualifies for Wales through parentage, having been born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, to a Zimbabwean father and Welsh mother. His first team was Littleover Dazzlers, for whom he played as a youngster. Dazzlers teammates recall that Lewin was the kind of player who "wanted to take the corner and put the ball in the net."[citation needed] Having developed as a player through Derby County's academy, he signed professional forms for the club in August 2005. That month also saw him captain the Welsh Under-21 side prior to his seventeenth birthday, and make his Derby debut in a League Cup tie against Grimsby Town.
Since then Nyatanga has been a regular member of the Derby first team squad. On March 1 2006, aged 17 years and 195 days, he made his full international debut for Wales in a friendly match against Paraguay in Cardiff, breaking Ryan Green's record as the youngest ever Welsh international. Despite his inexperience, with only 17 first team appearances for Derby behind him, he played "a key role"[citation needed] in the goalless draw. [1]
Wales' match against Trinidad and Tobago in May 2006 marked Nyatanga's second international appearance, and also saw his age record broken by 16 year old teammate Gareth Bale.
In 2006, Nyatanga won the Welsh Football Writers' Young Player of the Year award.
On 19 October 2006, Nyatanga moved on loan to Sunderland until January 2007. He returned to Derby on January 2nd. Whilst at Sunderland, Nyatanga played left back due to injuries to Steven Wright and Clive Clarke leaving on loan. According to sources close to Roy Keane and Sunderland, the club were interested in signing Lewin Nyatanga in a £1.5m move in January. However, no bid was tabled by Roy Keane.
Nyatanga joined Barnsley on loan for three months in February 2007.[1] Nyantanga helped the club to some vital wins during his time at Barnsley, including a surprise 1-0 win over promotion hopefuls Birmingham City and a vital 3-1 win away to relegation rivals Southend. Nyantanga was recalled to Derby on April 16th after injuries and suspensions, respectively to two key defenders in Michael Johnson and Darren Moore left the Rams short of cover in central defence. He also scored the winner against Luton Town on April 20, 2007 to send Derby back into the automatic promotion places and to relegate The Hatters.
Notes
- ^ "Barnsley sign defender Nyatanga". BBC Sport. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
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External links
- Lewin Nyatanga at Soccerbase
- Official Sunderland FC Profile
- Lewin Nyatanga Profile at FootballDatabase