THAT’S HOW MUCH BALE LOVES WALES
Three flights, 30 hours and 7,043 miles to play for Giggs
Gareth Bale showed his commitment to Wales by flying to China straight after scoring for real Madrid and then turning out at training less than four hours after touching down.
Bale travelled more than 7,000 miles over three flights to ensure he made ryan Giggs’s first session as Wales manager at the Guangxi Sports Centre yesterday. Wales are playing in the China Cup alongside the host nation, Uruguay and Czech republic, and organisers have marketed Bale’s presence heavily.
the £86million man’s image can be seen extensively throughout the Chinese city. But even so, his willingness to join up immediately indicates his patriotism.
Bale’s journey began after he boarded a private jet from Madrid to luton on Sunday night having scored in the 86th minute of real’s 6-3 win over Girona at the Bernabeu. he was driven to richmond to stay in a hotel before travelling on a commercial flight from heathrow on Monday at 11.30am, alongside Wales team-mate adam Matthews. the plane landed in Guangzhou, southern China, 10 and a half hours later, at 6am local time, and fans were ready to mob Bale.
after a brief layover, he took the short flight to Nanning in economy and landed at midday local time, being driven to the team hotel for 1pm. he briefly went up to his room before joining Giggs and his team-mates for a meal and a briefing.
On his return to the lobby, Bale signed autographs for a dozen or so fans and then went for a team walk around the neighbouring mall. a short while later a bus took the team to the Guangxi Sports Centre and Bale trained with Giggs as manager for the first time.
Giggs led a huddle before the session and Bale went through his paces gently, typical for a player 36 hours after competitive action. he has missed the last four Wales internationals through injury but is set to start tomorrow’s game against China. Wales are receiving £1million for competing in the China Cup, but would have been docked £100,000 of the fee had Bale not featured.
tottenham’s Ben Davies insisted Mauricio Pochettino gave his blessing for the global round-trip despite Spurs entering a crunch period for fixtures. the final of the China Cup is Monday and Spurs face Chelsea the following Saturday, and also have Manchester United in the Fa Cup semi-final later in april.
‘as far as the manager was concerned, if I was fit then I was going,’ said Davies. ‘that’s the best way to be. When you are playing football you just want to be in a rhythm, if that’s international games or wherever it may be. Of course, it’s a long old flight and it’s going to take it out of you but we still have a few days when we get back to get prepared for the games coming up.’
Giggs will come up against Marcello lippi in his first match, with the Italian — now in charge of China — eager for a reacquaintance after battles between Juventus and Manchester United.
‘I want to meet ryan Giggs,’ lippi said of a player who scored four times against Juventus across eight Champions league games. ‘I remember when I was manager of Juventus we played many matches. he was an extraordinary player. I hope he will become a very good coach. I don’t feel I need to give him any advice, he had the best coach in Sir alex Ferguson! he just needs to do what he learned from him.’
Meanwhile, Chris Gunter has revealed that Wales’ players were the ‘last to know’ about Chris Coleman’s decision to quit as manager. But he insists the team are excited to work under Giggs.
If the full back plays, he will win his 86th cap, going ahead of Gary Speed’s 85. Gunter said of his new boss Giggs: ‘We’re all at an age where we would have watched him as a player and know what he brings. there’s a genuine excitement of what’s to come.’