David Brooks: Wales goal 'special' after cancer ordeal, says Bournemouth forward
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David Brooks' goal against Latvia was his first for Wales since he got the winner against Republic of Ireland in the Nations League in November 2020
David Brooks says it felt special to score his first goal for Wales since recovering from cancer.
The 26-year-old was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021 but was given the all-clear in May 2022.
He scored his first international goal in nearly three years to help Wales beat Latvia 2-0 in a crucial Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday night.
"It means a lot. The fans have been absolutely amazing," he said.
"The three-year journey I've been on to get to this point has been a long one.
"The behind-the-scenes work that's got me to this point, everyone that's been involved for me to just be able to be on the pitch, never mind doing the thing I love and scoring goals, especially at international level, it's something special."
Brooks scored his first goal for Bournemouth in more than two years in the Carabao Cup at Swansea City last month, then struck in a Premier League draw with Brentford before notching up his third international goal to add to Aaron Ramsey's penalty in Riga.
He has scored in three successive matches for the first time in his career.
"I scored two weeks ago, my first one back [since recovering from cancer] which gave me a bit of confidence," he added.
"I felt quite at home in front of goal, showed a bit of composure and it went in."
Wales's triumph over Latvia keeps them in the hunt to qualify for Euro 2024 automatically.
However, Robert Page's side still face an uphill task to avoid needing to go through the play-offs next March.
They are fourth in Group D and sit just three points behind Croatia and Turkey, who are currently in the top two.
David Brooks 'felt at home in front of goal' as Wales beat Latvia
But Brooks is confident Wales can reach next year's tournament in Germany.
"If we win all of our games, it's in our hands," he said.
"We fancy ourselves, we'll be going into every game trying to pick up maximum points."
Wales return to action against Gibraltar in a friendly at Wrexham's Stok Racecourse on 11 October. They face Croatia at Cardiff City Stadium in their next Euro qualifier four days later.
Page's side travel to Armenia on 18 November before rounding off their qualifying campaign against Turkey in Cardiff on 21 November.
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