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Ian Mitchelmore

Ki, Michu, de Guzman — Where Swansea City's cup-winning heroes are now 10 years on

Swansea City made history 10 years ago today as they thumped Bradford City 5-0 to lift the League Cup at Wembley.

Michael Laudrup's men defeated Barnsley, Crawley Town, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Chelsea en route to securing their place in the showpiece final - which was held in front of 82,597 supporters on February 24, 2013.

Here's a closer look at what the players who delivered the goods for Swansea on that remarkable day are up to now.

READ MORE: Russell Martin says there's been no talks over his job and is already planning 'huge' summer for Swansea City

Gerhard Tremmel

The German kept a clean sheet in the final having twice shutout Chelsea in the semi-finals to etch his name into Swansea folklore.

He was never able to nail down a regular starting place in the league though, and following a loan spell with Werder Bremen, he left the Swans in 2017 having worked as a scout.

Tremmel briefly did some work as a commentator and departed south Wales having made 49 appearances for the club.

Angel Rangel

The Spaniard enjoyed more than a decade with the Swans and fully embodied the club's style of play during their glory years in the top flight.

Following Swansea's relegation from the Premier League in 2018, Rangel joined Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers before retiring from football two years later at the age of 38 due to injury.

In May last year, he took charge of Pontardawe Town Academy's Under-12s.

Ashley Williams

The central defender enjoyed immense success with both Swansea and Wales, leading his country to the semi-finals at Euro 2016 before announcing his retirement from all forms of football in January 2021 after stints with Everton, Stoke City and Bristol City.

Williams has since worked as a pundit for the BBC and Sky and is currently an FAW A licence candidate, regularly working with young Welsh talent in a range of coaching sessions.

Ki Sung-yueng

Ki Sung-yueng operated at centre-back in the final against Bradford but played the majority of his Swans career in midfield.

Following a loan stint at Sunderland, the midfielder joined Newcastle United in 2018 after Swansea were relegated from the top flight but joined FC Seoul in his native South Korea in 2020 having briefly been at Mallorca.

Ben Davies

The academy product rose to prominence with the Swans before being sold to Tottenham Hotspur in 2014.

Davies has been a mainstay with the north Londoners and is on the brink of reaching 300 appearances in all competitions for the club.

He also remains a pivotal part of the Wales set-up, representing his country in three major tournaments and amassing 77 caps.

Leon Britton

The midfield maestro was key to so much of Swansea's success and starred when he was brought back into the fold in the latter stages of the 2016/17 season when the club narrowly avoided relegation.

But his glorious Swans career came to an end a year later, with Britton later retiring from football altogether following stints with Llanelli Town and Ammanford.

The diminutive midfielder went on to hold various roles with the club, including caretaker boss, sporting director and football advisor to the board. He was also a club ambassador and remains a regular in the stands at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Jonathan de Guzman

The Dutchman netted twice in the final against Bradford, the first goal of which proved somewhat controversial as he stepped up to take a penalty in place of Nathan Dyer who was on a hat-trick.

Nevertheless, de Guzman produced some magical moments in a Swans shirt and went on to play for Napoli, Carpi, Chievo, Eintracht Frankfurt and OFI Crete before joining current club Sparta Rotterdam.

Nathan Dyer

The winger gave the Swans a dream start against the Bantams with a 16th minute goal before netting his second shortly after half-time.

Dyer remained a pivotal figure at Swansea but joined Leicester City on loan during their Premier League title-winning campaign in 2015/16.

He returned to south Wales after that spell with the Foxes and eventually hung up his boots during Steve Cooper's time at the club. Dyer has since undertaken punditry work while he also mentors young players bidding to make their way in the game.

Pablo Hernandez

The Spanish playmaker is another who excelled under Laudrup, although he had just two seasons with the Swans.

His career has been somewhat mixed since moving on from south Wales, with Hernandez having spells with Al-Arabi, Al-Nasr, Rayo Vallecano and then Leeds United who he helped secure promotion back into the Premier League in 2021 before joining current club Castellon.

Wayne Routledge

Club legend Routledge is another who was pivotal throughout Swansea's successful years in the upper echelons of the football pyramid.

The former winger, now 38 years of age, made more than 300 appearances for the Swans but now works for the Unique Sports Group.

Speaking about his unusual preparation for the League Cup final on the Elis James Feast of Football podcast, Routledge said: "My individual memory of the day was feeling horrendously ill.

"The build-up to that final, I was horrendous. I've still got pictures on my phone of me sitting on my sofa with Olbas Oil, Strepsils tablets and all of the things to help me to be able to breathe.

"I remember playing the game, and the game went perfectly, we couldn't have asked for much more from it but the resounding factor that I do remember, obviously we were celebrating, and when the champagne goes and all of that stuff, I just started shivering and I had to go back into the changing room. I was a mess! But thankfully it went well and we did what we needed to do. It was a great day."

Swansea City players celebrate winning the Capital One Cup final in 2013 (AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

Michu

Goals. Grace. Glory. Michu had it all.

The Spanish forward netted the second of Swansea's five goals against Bradford having also netted a sumptuous opener in the semi-final first leg win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

But injuries hampered his career, and following stints with Napoli, Langreo and Oviedo, Michu retired at just 31 years of age in 2017. He is currently the sporting director of Spanish Segunda Division side Burgos.

SUBS

Garry Monk - Defender Monk followed a tremendous career with a terrific spell as boss, leading the club to their highest ever Premier League finish before things ultimately soured. He went on to manage Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday but has more recently done punditry work for Sky.

Dwight Tiendalli - Former Netherlands international Tiendalli retired from football in 2018 following spells with Middlesbrough and Oxford United, later becoming a Football Family Office agent.

Roland Lamah - Ivory Coast-born ex-Belgium international Lamah has spells with Ferencvaros, FC Dallas, FC Cincinnati and Memphis 901.

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