AFC Bournemouth’s Ben Greenwood tells HITC Football that Todd Cantwell of Norwich City and Chelsea forward Armando Broja have been his toughest opponents with Milot Rashica.
Scott Parker afforded Greenwood his senior Cherries debut as they visited the Canaries in the Carabao Cup second round in August. The left-back joined the south cost side in 2019 at 16 years old. Even though he was never previously a part of any team’s academy set-up.
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Greenwood had spent 10 weeks on trial at Chelsea before signing for Bournemouth, where he played against Broja. While the defender is now forging a career at the top level despite starting later than most, the striker has been with the Blues since 2009 when he was eight.
Cantwell, likewise, joined Norwich’s youth programme in 2008 when the midfielder was 10 before rising through the age groups. He also spent the latter half of last term on loan with Bournemouth and trained beside Greenwood around making 12 appearances for the club.
Now 21, Broja is a regular for Chelsea in the Premier League and Champions League after 17 games this season. He also struck nine goals in 38 games across all competitions whilst on loan to Southampton last term. The Albanian hit six in 32 league outings for the Saints.
As for Cantwell, the 24-year-old has played 129 games for the Norwich first-team since his debut in 2018. He also has 14 goals and 12 assists across all competitions but is yet to get off the mark this term. The Canaries product also failed to score or assist at Bournemouth.
Greenwood names Cantwell and Broja among his ‘toughest’ opponents
Broja and Cantwell left a big impression on Greenwood, who lists the Chelsea and Norwich pair among his toughest opponents. Rashica, who is now on loan to Galatasaray for a year, also stood out to the Bournemouth prospect during his senior Cherries debut this August.
“Toughest opponent I’ve played against? To be fair, when I played my debut against Norwich I thought that the person that I was playing against, Rashica, he was very sharp,” Greenwood told HITC Football.
“I thought I held my own and, obviously, Todd Cantwell played that game and he spent some time on loan with us last year. He’s a great player, he’s just so elegant.
“I’ve played against people like Armando Broja, real handful. It’s hard to pick one, but them three names they do spring to my head straight away.”
Bournemouth edged Norwich on penalties to advance from their Carabao Cup encounter. Greenwood played 91 minutes of the Carrow Road tie, despite picking up a yellow card in the eighth minute. He also won all three of his tackles and his only aerial duel attempted.
Per WhoScored, Greenwood additionally held Rashica to one successful dribble from three attempts. The 26-year-old vastly outmatched the left-back’s experience on the night. The former Werder Bremen star has 46 caps for Kosovo and played 208 career first-tier games.
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