CONNOR ROBERTS revealed he feared for his life after a scare with fatal pneumonia.
The Wales wing-back, 27, was taken to hospital after contracting the serious illness last December following his Premier League debut for the then top flight club Burnley.
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Roberts says doctors couldn’t give his wife Georgina any guarantee that he would survive the potentially fatal lung infection, let alone make a comeback and now play at a World Cup.
Roberts said: “I had pneumonia and I was in hospital for a few days. I had a really, really hard time.
“My wife was at home and she asked the doctors, ‘Is he okay?’
“He couldn’t really give her the answer that I would be okay because a high percentage of people who have what I had don’t make it.
“So the fact that I’m still playing and still able to do what I do is a good thing.
“Everyone knows I like to get up and down when I play and I will be running all day so my lungs are a big part of the ability to do that.
“I was worried because it affects the lungs and I had to have numerous scans. I was told by the people who read those scans that what I had was serious. It was no small thing.”
Following relief from battling pneumonia, Roberts was cleared to return for Burnley after nearly two months.
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The virus and the arrival of his daughter Elsie have changed the all-action defender’s outlook on life and football.
Roberts, who is in line wins his 42nd cap against the US to cap off a rollercoaster year, he added: “I felt good coming back for Burnley at the end of last season and we’ve since qualified for a World Cup so I can’t do that badly.
“My life has changed a lot – I have a little girl now, so when I play I try to do my best.
“But if I’m useless, who cares? If I go home and see her, no one can take that away from me.
“In recent years, at Swansea and a few games for Wales where I didn’t play as well as I know, I wanted to go home and beat myself up about it.
“I would say to family and friends, ‘I’m useless. I’m done with football.’ Now I have a different perspective. If I don’t play well, I go home and she smiles, nothing else matters.”
Roberts started all four of Wales’ Euro 2020 matches last summer and his nickname of the ‘Crynant Cafu’ exploded after he scored in the 2-0 victory over Turkey in Baku.
Brazilian legend Cafu won the World Cup twice in 1994 and 2002.
But Roberts, from the small Welsh village in the valleys north east of Swansea, quipped: “His track record is decent, but he can only dream he’s from Wales!”
On a more serious note, Roberts added: “My friends started saying the nickname, but I don’t know if they heard it from anywhere else. Everyone is saying it now.
“Two of my friends are going and have thrown all their savings to get out of there.
“They want to see their mate play for their country on the biggest stage of a World Cup. It’s great for them, but also for me.
“There will be many eyes from my village and the valley watching and cheering us on.
“I never thought I’d play for Swansea, never thought I’d get one cap for Wales, let alone 41. I just want to be able to play one minute so I can say I’ve been at a World Cup for a year have played.” my country.
“I have been on holiday to Dubai a few times and I love walking in the sweltering heat. When I wear the Wales jersey I feel like I can run all day. It could be 100 degrees and it wouldn’t bother me.”