THE first British derby ever played at a World Cup finals — and quite possibly the final match for Gareth Bale as an elite footballer.
England versus Wales adds a serious dollop of local spice to this global jamboree.
We’ve had Welsh actor Michael Sheen geeing up the boyos prattling on about the valleys and “crimson thunder” and the land of our fathers.
And we’ve had Gareth Southgate suggesting that he will use a video of Wales players celebrating riotously in their team room, after England were humiliated by Iceland at Euro 2016, as motivation for the clash in Doha.
So it seems the perfect time for an Englishman to ask: “Gareth Bale, five-time Champions League winner — was he ever really all that?”
No other British footballer has five European Cup winner’s medals and no other British footballer has ever spent nine years on the books of Real Madrid, the most famous club on Earth.
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There is no doubt that Bale’s career-highlights reel is sensational.
The “taxi for Maicon” night against European champions Inter Milan back in 2010.
The sprint down, and outside of, the touchline to out-pace Barcelona’s Marc Bartra and score in the 2014 Copa del Rey final Clasico.
Inspiring Wales to a major semi-final six years ago, as well as their first World Cup in 64 years.
And his two goals in Champions League finals — especially that sensational bicycle-kick against Liverpool in Kiev in 2018.
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Bale played a significant role in three of those five Champions League triumphs — although last season he only featured for seven minutes of Real’s entire European campaign.
So, of course, Bale was a special player but the idea that he might be British football’s GOAT is unlikely to garner much favour outside of Wales.
Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, George Best and Stanley Matthews would surely rank above him.
In fact, Bale is probably not the greatest Welsh footballer of all time.
If you asked the late, great Jimmy Greaves to name the best British player ever, as I once did, he’d argue for Bale’s fellow Welshman John Charles — world class at both centre-forward and centre-half and a legend at Juventus.
The view of Bale in Madrid is a harsh one, often centring around the infamous “Wales, golf, Madrid — in that order” flag he posed with after Wales qualified for the last Euros finals.
There was an element of truth in that banner. Bale has a passion for his national team which he has never felt for Madrid. He is also an extremely keen scratch golfer.
And the fact Bale dug in his heels and refused to move when Real wanted his £600,000-per-week contract off their wage bill, was never going to make him popular.
David Beckham, who surpassed expectations on an individual level, and Steve McManaman, a Champions League winner who fully embraced life in Madrid, are the two British players with a strong, lasting affection at the Bernabeu.
Even before things turned sour, during Zinedine Zidane’s second spell as Real manager, Bale was often questioned.
One eminent Spanish journalist argued that Bale “didn’t know how to play football”.
By which he means that Bale had all the attributes to be a great player — pace, physicality, finishing prowess — but he didn’t have the understanding of the game to be as great as he ought to have been.
At his peak, Bale had an uncanny ability to produce decisive moments in matches but he rarely dominated games — partly because Cristiano Ronaldo was Real’s alpha male for so long.
Before Real, Bale was good enough to win two PFA Player of the Year awards in a Tottenham team which won nothing, and became the most expensive footballer on the planet. Although Real tried to pretend his £86million fee was lower to placate Ronaldo’s ego.
In Wales he is adored, not just for his world-class ability but for his fierce patriotism.
They still sing about Bale’s decision — long forgotten in England — to withdraw from Team GB at the London Olympics, with the words: “Said he had a bad back, f*** the Union Jack, viva Gareth Bale!”
At 33, and after years of serious injury problems, Bale is clearly not the explosive player he once was.
At this World Cup, he scored a penalty in a draw with the United States but was anonymous in the 2-0 defeat by Iran which leaves Wales on the brink of elimination.
They must either beat England by four clear goals or win by a lesser margin and hope the USA and Iran draw if they are to advance to the last 16. Bale may not be the greatest British footballer — and he was not as great as he might have been.
But he remains a fiercely proud Welshman with a reputation as a big-game player as well as a lingering dead-ball ability, which will make England wary.
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So we mustn’t discount the possibility of a sting in the tail at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium tonight.
Nor should we fully rule out a second sporting career ending with a Green Jacket at Augusta either.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
