He hardly gets a chance at the club, but it’s hard to imagine the national team without him: Gareth Bale proved his class once again on Thursday evening in the company of the Welsh players.
His contract at Real Madrid expires in the summer and will not be renewed. Gareth Bale no longer plays any role at all for the Royals, appearing just four times in La Liga this season, most recently in mid-February. The relationship between the 32-year-old and Madrid has not been a good one for a long time, let alone a successful one.
It’s completely different in the national team. There Bale is important, there Bale delivers, there Bale leads the team onto the field as captain – and there he feels really comfortable. “Playing for his country means everything to him. We are very grateful to have him with us,” said team-mate Aaron Ramsey on Thursday evening.
Earlier, Bale had almost single-handedly ensured Wales won 2-1 against Austria. In the first half, the attacker curled a free-kick into the top right-hand corner, and after the break, the Madrilenian showed his fine left foot again to go 2-0 up. “I haven’t scored for a while. It was cool to see the ball go in so we got off to a good start,” the captain said on Sky Sports.”
“Only half the work is done “
“It was a very important game. We knew how big the game was and that we had to deliver,” added the match-winner, setting the best example. Bale couldn’t quite finish, he was substituted just before the end and replaced by Chris Mepham. “I had cramps at the end but I gave everything for this country. We all do. We can enjoy this today. But only half the job is done, we still have a tough game ahead of us against Scotland or Ukraine,” the left-footer knows. It remains to be seen when that match will take place, as the Scotland-Ukraine game has been rescheduled for mid-June.
