By Dan Cope
THE father of Swansea City defender Ben Cabango has spoken about his son’s development at the Championship club.
The Cardiff born 19-year-old has played his way into the running to be a part of Ryan Giggs’ European 2020 Championship Wales squad after a string of impressive performances for Steve Cooper’s side this season.
Cabango only made his professional league debut in November after being called upon due to an injury to centre back Mike Van Der Hoorn.
But he has caught the eye of both Swansea and Wales fans with his physical presence and assured defensive displays.
Cabango’s father, Paulo, has been there for his son from the start, taking him to local football games and to trials at Newport County before he found a place at Swansea City at the age of 12.
Cabango senior said: “Sometimes you have to pinch yourself as a father and to see him doing so well, taking everything in his stride because becoming a professional footballer is not easy to do. There are a lot of hurdles, a lot of ups and downs, but he took it in his stride very well and I’m so proud of him.”
Ben’s brother, Theo, is currently playing for Cardiff Blues and is tipped to shine at the Arms Park whereas Paulo, who is originally from Angola, represented Portugal in basketball.
Cabango said: “It’s something you can’t describe, it’s such a pleasure to have two lads who are very gifted and who love their sport.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>🔬 Of the nine clean sheets <a href=”https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@SwansOfficial</a> have kept in the Championship this season, three have come with Ben Cabango featuring from the off<br><br>The teenager falls under the microscope today as we previews the Swans' welcome of Wigan 👉 <a href=”https://t.co/McoQfbMZVO”>https://t.co/McoQfbMZVO</a> <a href=”https://t.co/fgbiVDME8k”>pic.twitter.com/fgbiVDME8k</a></p>— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) <a href=”https://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/1218507075627573248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 18, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
”It’s obviously a lot of hard work behind the scenes with their diet and things like that but myself and my wife are both so proud of them for achieving something they always dreamt of.”
Ben Cabango was praised for his strong showing in Swansea’s 0-0 draw against Cardiff City in the feisty South Wales derby, after he replaced fellow Wales international Joe Rodon who was ruled out through injury. His display that afternoon was nervously watched by his mother and father.
Cabango senior said: “ We were a bit nervous for him. My wife text him the day before and he just said ‘I just can’t wait to play dad’.
“But still myself and my wife were a bit nervous, I think my wife was the most nervous actually.”
He added: “We went to the game and he did really well. He conducted himself well, played well and we were so proud of him in the end.”
With Cabango’s name now being thrown about by fans for a potential Wales call up, his father insists his son mustr retain his focus.
Cabango said: “Every father wants to see their son represent their country and I’m sure Ben (Cabango) would love that, but obviously he has to concentrate on his football. It would be great if that were to happen.”