Hennessey to win 100th cap as Wales take on Czech Republic in Ukraine fundraiser friendly

Wales will take on the Czech Republic in Cardiff on Tuesday evening in a match that will raise funds for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey will also captain his country in the friendly to mark his 100th international appearance for Wales.

He will join Gareth Bale and Chris Gunter as the only men to reach the milestone.

The 35-year-old said he couldn't wait for the game and described it as a "huge occasion".

He said: "It's a massive achievement for myself and my family. A lot of hard work, a lot of ups and downs, injuries so for me it's going to be a huge occasion. I can't wait.

"It's been a long time coming but I can't wait for it to happen. I'm going to keep going as long as I can and representing my country for as long as I can."

Wales captain Gareth Bale has praised the contribution of Hennessey and said he was "proud" of his friend.

"What an achievement and what a goalkeeper," said Bale.

"It's going to be a great night on Tuesday. Hopefully all the fans will come out to support him and show their appreciation because he really has been a rock in this team and a massive part of our success and I can't wait to celebrate his 100th cap with him.

"We've been great friends since our early days, and it's grown and grown into a bromance! We're inseparable when we come away on camp.

"It's been a pleasure to play with him and a pleasure to be a friend of his. He's literally one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He's so humble and so down to earth, and I'm just proud of him as a friend as well."

Wales coach, Rob Page also congratulated the goalkeeper for reaching this milestone.

"He's an absolute legend of this football team", he said.

"For what he's given to the country over the years, he deserves all of the plaudits he's going to get. I can't speak highly enough of him as a man, a professional or as a footballer."

Page is expected to make a number of changes to his starting lineup after Wales' big play-off semi final win over Austria last week.

"The important game for us is done," said Page.

"Thankfully we got the positive result. There's a few stiff bodies out there.

"This gives me an opportunity to see some of the fringe players, to see some of the players that didn't play on Thursday evening that haven't played a lot of minutes for us at international level who are doing really well at club level. 

"It gives us an opportunity to use it as an exercise to give them minutes, have a look at them at this level and expose them to international football ahead of a big month in June."

The Football Association of Wales has announced funds from the game against the Czech Republic will go towards the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Wales were meant to be playing their World Cup play-off final against Scotland or Ukraine on Tuesday but, because of Russia's invasion, Ukraine's semi-final play-off against Scotland has been postponed.

Page added: "It's going to be a great occasion. We want to support Ukraine also so it's a very important night for that. "

Kick off is at 7.45pm at Cardiff City Stadium.