Liverpool defender blocked from playing for his country after bizarre error

Liverpool defender Owen Beck was forced out of contention for Wales U21s after an “administrative issue” saw him ruled ineligible hours before kickoff.

Beck was initially called up to the Wales senior squad for the October break, but the decision was later made for him and centre-back Rubin Colwill to join the U21s instead.

However, an oversight from the Welsh FA saw six players found ineligible for their U21 Euro qualifier against Czechia as they had not be registered for the previous tie against Iceland last month.

Beck and Colwill were both in line to start on Friday, while the further absence of Lewys Benjamin, Owen Hampson, Josh Farrell and Ed Turns saw manager Matty Jones unable to name a full squad.

There was no goalkeeper on his bench and three spots were left vacant, with Wales going on to lose the Game 2-1.

With the result leaving their chances of qualifying for the U21 Euros increasingly slim, Jones was unsurprisingly frustrated at the error.

“There will be a review to get to the bottom of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said after the defeat, per BBC Sport.

“It has caused disruption and unnecessary noise. I think I managed it the best I could but ultimately it’s at the back of your mind and at the back of players’ minds as well.”

Jones insisted it was a “‘we’ problem,” despite the nature of the error, having taking an optimistic view ahead of kickoff.

The coach had hoped his remaining players could show they were “able to adapt,” but Wales are now left needing Lithuania to take a result from Czechia on Tuesday to ensure a playoff spot for themselves.

It will have served as another frustrating development for Beck, who went into the international break having not featured in any of loan club Blackburn’s last three Games.

That came due to a red card shown in their 0-0 draw with Preston on September 22, a game that saw Beck bitten on the back by opposition striker Milutin Osmajic – later earning Osmajic an eight-match ban.

Beck was instead left to feature for Blackburn U21s in their 3-2 win over Leicester on October 4, which has been his only outing in three weeks now.

He is likely to start when Wales U21s face Slovakia on Tuesday evening, however, with that fixture only a friendly.