Giggs wins Wales accolade

12 April 2012

Ryan Giggs has been named Wales' player of the year for only the second time in his career.

The 32-year-old last won the award 10 years ago, despite being considered the best Welsh player of his generation.

But the Manchester United winger has been outstanding since being awarded the captaincy under manager John Toshack, playing every competitive international and plenty of friendlies.

This has helped put to rest criticism of his commitment to his country, making it somewhat ironic that Giggs was not present at the awards dinner at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

He will also miss the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifying games with Slovakia and Cyprus due to a hamstring injury that has kept him out of United'slast four games.

The young player of the year award went to Derby's 18-year-old defender Lewin Nyatanga, who at one stage last season was Wales' youngest-ever full international.

That accolade now belongs to Southampton's Gareth Bale, but Nyatanga's impact since his debut against Paraguay last year has seen him amass five caps to date.

Wrexham's Mark Jones won the club player of the year award, with the midfielder and team-mate Ryan Valentine the only uncapped players in the current Wales squad.

Jones has been on the brink of his first full cap for some while, but injuries have thwarted that ambition.

The awards were presented at the Brains brewery-sponsored dinner in Cardiff, with Toshack accepting the trophy on behalf of Giggs.

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