Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies appeared as a guest on "The Tottenham Way," a podcast produced jointly by Tottenham's official channel and Sports Illustrated. During the episode, he reflected on his career at Tottenham and the Europa Conference League victory, discussing his friendships with Son and Harry Kane, Kane's Ballon d'Or prospects, his Wales international career, and family life. This article is the second part of the exclusive interview.

Other parts of the interview:

Ben Davies: Kane scored 72 goals in one season; I don't believe there's still debate about who deserves the Ballon d'Or.

Let's look at this Wales photo now. A big smile immediately comes across your face, and I love that. When you took it, there was a smile on your face.

It's always a great honour to play for Wales. I really love it, and I've been very fortunate to have that opportunity throughout my career, and hopefully it will continue. It's fantastic. We have a great group of people.

You have a very talented generation of players, don't you?

A very talented generation of players. As everyone knows, to be honest, we're a small nation. To reach the level we're at now, we're probably always punching above our weight, and we've certainly achieved a lot of success. Playing against teams like England, France, Germany, Spain is not easy. They can pick several different starting XIs. We don't have that luxury, but we always feel that we're not too far behind them. Perhaps the very top level is difficult for us to reach, but we're at the level just below that. We feel confident against many European teams. So, playing for Wales has always been something very, very special for me, and it makes me very proud.

In the next part of this episode, we'll discuss Wales and Tottenham in more depth. I want to mention something I've observed. I was there for a tournament where you reached the semifinals, and we'll talk about that later. Observing the Wales team over the years, I've noticed that although many clubs often change their players and formations, you always seem to have a real core group of players. It seems like six or seven individuals have been starters in almost every game for Wales for a long time. I imagine this must help you build very special connections both on and off the pitch.

It definitely helps. I think you're right on the money. Even now, when we go to national team camps, there are almost always the same 20 or so players who come every time. In that situation, you naturally build those relationships, and you develop strong connections with each other.

Some teammates have played with me since we were 14 or 15 years old, as we've gone through all the youth levels together. Like I just said, we don't have a huge pool of talent. So sometimes it feels like playing with your school mates, and also like playing with your club mates. We always feel that in professional football, this might be the closest experience to "playing with your mates."

That's actually beautiful, isn't it? That's wonderful. I love it.

Yeah, and everyone wants to do well, so they inspire and push each other. It's a very enjoyable place to be.

I like that. A few more photos.

Okay, let's look at this one from Bilbao.

Wow. We were both there. What a beautiful night. We were both there.

That was an incredible night. Even looking at this photo now, I'm still thinking about all the effort and hard work we've put in over the years. I also felt that I'd been part of this team for a long time.

To be honest, it felt like a huge relief. We finally lifted the weight that had been on us all this time; we finally won the trophy. We'd been so close before, reaching semifinals and finals, but we could never get past that final hurdle. So, finally achieving it felt amazing. For the club, it was a special night. If you know what I mean, it was like the satisfying pinnacle of the entire journey.

For you, this trophy must mean more than it does for many other players, because you've been here the longest. You used the phrase "a sigh of relief," which is interesting. Because I was in the stands then, and I saw grown men crying. When you see what it means to so many generations, that moment felt very special.

Yeah. I've been here so long, made so many friends, and grown very close with many Tottenham fans. I know what this trophy means to them. I feel like I've experienced all of that myself. I'm now part of this club. It's become embedded in my life. So my feelings are exactly the same.

It was an emotional night. But like I just said, when you've put in so much effort over all this time, that feeling just washes over you in the end: Phew... you're exhausted, but finally it's done.

You know? For us fans, it's the same feeling. We're also letting out a sigh of relief. Honestly, I think in those final 10 minutes of the match, I barely breathed. The extra time felt like the longest period ever, didn't it?

It was torture.

Yes, it was torture. As long as this episode.

Someone told me it wasn't a classic match. But when you're in the game, you don't feel that. And besides, it doesn't matter, does it?

Who cares?

Exactly. It doesn't matter. The result is there.

But as you said, it was a collective sigh of relief for all the fans. "A sigh of relief" — that's the perfect phrase. When the final whistle blew, we need to find a recording of you. What was the first thing you did?

I don't know. I think I just stood there for a moment, taking it all in, and then realized: Wow, this is really done. We'd been disappointed so many times before that it didn't feel like it would ever happen. But now, finally it's done, and I'm so happy.

By the way, I think it's beautiful that you and Son could experience that moment together. Two veteran players who have served the club for years, lifting the trophy together.

Yeah. I think this is something we've talked about for a long time. It's pretty much as we just said — it's something we always wanted to achieve. We just wanted to get it done. And now, whenever we look back, it's nice to be able to remember that moment.

The celebration after must have been an incredible night as well, wasn't it?

It was a fantastic night.

I was going to ask, did you do karaoke?

I did.

What did you sing?

Brendan and I sang "Wisemen" by James Blunt.

Oh really? That's a great song. Would you like to sing a bit for us?

Absolutely not.

Is there a video we could watch?

I really hope not.

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