International Spotlight: Nathan Moriah-Welsh

Over the international break, Hibernian midfielder Nathan Moriah-Welsh will make the 9,000-mile-long round trip to Guyana and back to represent his national side. 

The long-haul flights and numerous connections are part and parcel for the 22-year-old who already has 18 caps to his name, since making his international debut in March 2021. 

“For me, it’s not bad – a lot of the boys joke and say that I am the best person to sit next to on a flight – I just sit there and sleep and never move. I have been doing it for years now, so I am used to it”, Moriah-Welsh explained.

“I flew straight after the game on Saturday, straight to London – then London to Trinidad and then onto Guyana, so it was a full day of travel. There are always a few connections that we need to get because there are rarely any direct flights – but it is good to catch up with everyone on the way over.

“Around 50% of the boys are travelling from the UK, there is one of the lads who travels over from New Zealand so he has the most gruesome flight out of all of us. Then the rest of the squad live and play in Guyana – so it is quite a mixed group.”

Born in London, Nathan qualifies to play for Guyana through his grandparents; a decision and adventure he is extremely grateful to have followed. 

“I knew realistically that I wasn’t going to play for England, so I wanted to get a new experience.

“Playing against countries from the Caribbean and Central America exposes you to different tactics and different styles of play. That was one of the main things for me – to see the world and to see some family members that I would’ve probably never met. I qualify through my grandparents who were born in Guyana before moving to England in their 30s and settled there. 

“I am probably one of the lucky ones, who has had a good upbringing – because of what my grandparents sacrificed for our family.”

The midfielder insists that the exposure to different players, different styles and ways of playing the game has helped him naturally develop his own game at club level.

Since Nathan made his first cap for ‘The Golden Jaguars’, the nation has seen an upturn in form and is now competing in the CONCACAF Nations League A after gaining promotion last year.

After picking up one point from their opening two fixtures,  Moriah-Welsh is hoping for a better return when Guyana host Guatemala on Saturday, before taking on Suriname on 16 October.

“Some teams are better than others – there are some really top teams in our region, your likes of Panama, USA and Mexico. But our team are getting better every year, we had a great run last year when we went unbeaten in our Nations League B and got promoted. 

“We’re only two games in at the moment and we are holding our own, the standard is obviously higher this year. We should’ve got a better result in our last rounds of fixtures but we are still aiming for a successful qualifying campaign and getting to the Gold Cup in 2025. 

“We played Guatemala three years ago and we lost, but I believe we have a much stronger team this time around – so I am eager to try and get revenge. They are Central American side, so they will be good on the ball and play with flair. 

“Suriname have a lot of Dutch-based players including Vents (Dylan Vente) so it was good to see him last time. A lot of their players will have played in the Eredivisie or other top leagues, so we know they will be a good side. 

“I don’t think there is any team in this league that we fear, because we know what we can achieve if we apply ourselves.”