Some of Wales’ best over-70s footballers will be aiming for global glory when the Veterans World Championship comes to Cardiff.

The event, which will involve teams from Australia, Norway, Germany, Denmark and the USA, will take place over four days in the Llanrumney district starting on Tuesday.

Players said it was a “great honour” to represent Wales and proved you are never too old to represent your country.

“None of us ever thought we would represent Wales and here we are, over 70 years old, doing it,” said 75-year-old Welsh captain Mark Entwistle.

There are two separate competitions – an over-70s tournament with 11 players per team and an over-75s cup with seven players per team on a smaller pitch.

Mr Entwistle said: “You don’t get a chance to breathe because the game is going on around you, so you have to keep going.”

Ryland Wallace, 73, plays in the midfield and said this would be his third World Cup this year after two cricket tournaments.

“I played in the Over-60s World Cup in India and have just returned from the Over-70s Cricket World Cup in England. This is a different game now, so we will do our best in Cardiff.”

“For me, this is all a bonus. At 73, I am aware that I am in extra time.

“It’s really wonderful. I just want to stay fit. I always say I’m between two injuries, so many of us play with some kind of injury.”

Retired pastor Keith Beardmore is in his 80s and said the team has been training hard in recent weeks.

“When you see this place, you have to run,” he added.

Former Cardiff City and Burnley manager Jimmy Mullen has been putting the two Welsh over-75 teams – Wales and Cymru – through their paces in the build-up to the tournament. Under the management of Tim Bowker, the tournament will consist of two games a day, each lasting around an hour.

He said the players would be proud to say they represented their countries.

Keith Hughes, 80, lives in Wrexham and regularly travels to Cardiff for training.

Between World Cup training and another tournament in Rhyl, he saw AC/DC in Dublin the weekend before the Games began.

“I have more experience than Judith Chalmers,” he said, referring to the travel journalist’s adventures filming shows in the 1970s and 1980s.

The tournament has previously been held in Denmark and Thailand and will move to Japan next year, where there will also be a category for those over 80.