BALE: WALES CAN GET EVEN BETTER
...HE’S EVEN WON SIX ON THE TROT WITH WALES QUIZ TEAM!
GARETH BALE has vowed that Wales are ready to produce their best-ever football to beat Portugal and claim a place in the Euro 2016 Final. The Real Madrid forward believes his side can improve on their brilliant display against Belgium that secured the biggest win in their history. ‘We played a good game against an incredible Belgium team, but we want to keep progressing,’ said Bale. ‘We have been talking about the areas we can improve on. If we can improve those little one-percenters, it will only help our game.’ Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies are suspended for tomorrow night’s semi-final in Lyon.
Cristiano ronaldo predictably dominated discussions as Gareth Bale held court once more in the build-up to what promises to be an epic encounter between the world’s two most expensive players.
But it was a different real Madrid team-mate brought up by Bale who supplied the most telling detail on the magnitude of Wales’ progress to a semi-final against Portugal tomorrow.
the question was whether ronaldo offered any friendly challenge ahead of the real stars heading off to France. ‘no,’ said Bale. ‘But i remember toni Kroos saying we’d only have three games, so it would be nice to meet him in the final!
‘it was a good laugh and a joke — a bit of banter. But we’ve obviously exceeded a lot of people’s expectations. We understand that and we’re just enjoying it.
‘i have had a lot of abuse over the years, when we used to lose and were 100th in the world — “You have nine weeks’ holiday instead of two” — just the normal stuff. it is good to finally be in a major tournament actually doing great things with our national team.’
as usual during this barmy run to the last four, Bale cut a relaxed figure, smiling for the larger-thanusual collection of cameras and dealing deftly with the ronaldo issue. this is uncharted territory for Wales, but Bale is used to the noise that comes as a major competition reaches crescendo.
For Wales, the challenge now is to maintain the mentality that has served them so well so far and not be fazed as the reality of this seismic opportunity grips.
‘i don’t feel like it will affect us,’ said Bale. ‘the atmosphere’s exactly the same. We’re still joking around and having a laugh. We’re not feeling the pressure.
‘We’re still doing our quizzes — my team won again today. that is six in a row now. We’re on fire. it was pictures that were blurred out and you had to guess the Premier League players.’
Chris Gunter, Ben Davies, Hal robson-Kanu, Joe allen and Danny Ward support Bale in the brain battles. ‘it is a clever team — minus me,’ he said.
You would be a fool to believe that, of course. Bale is smart and navigated his way round the ronaldo questions as adeptly as he might deal with a ball at his feet.
there were enough indications about a relationship that is forever destined to be purely professional, but nothing to shake the Bernabeu’s political wasp nest.
For example, Bale dismissed the suggestion the semi-final would decide this year’s Ballon d’or, insisting he does not give the prize a second thought.
ronaldo has made winning the annual award a personal mission but Bale said: ‘i never think about the Ballon d’or, it is not in my mind at all. i think about my team and if an individual award came along at the end of the year so be it. the ultimate aim is to win team medals.’
While Bale has appeared to be having fun in France, ronaldo has seemed prickly, at one point throwing a reporter’s microphone into a river.
‘i can’t comment on how he’s feeling, what he’s doing, i am sure he has his reasons for doing what he did, that’s up to him,’ said Bale. ‘For me, i feel comfortable, we are enjoying ourselves here. sometimes you have to fulfil your responsibilities and doing interviews is part of that. of course we get on very well at Madrid. We enjoy playing together. What he does off the pitch, that’s his private life.
‘Everything he has achieved in the game is amazing. He has obviously set the standard for football, him and Messi. i feel like i am on my own journey, i am trying to achieve what i can.
‘i feel like i’m on a good path, i am improving every season and hopefully i can continue to get better and play in a major tournament final for my country.’
Chris Coleman is unlikely to ask Bale for any particular insight on a player Wales have scouted numerous times. Bale added: ‘ronaldo’s a fantastic player, everybody knows what he can do, but teams we’ve played already had very good individuals. it’s about how we perform as a team and by doing that, we can shut out a lot of threats.
‘it’s not about two players. Everybody knows that, really. it is about two nations in a semi-final, 11 men against 11 men. Everyone says it’s me and ronaldo but it’s Wales versus Portugal. it’s not annoying me. it’s irrelevant, to be honest. We could not have a kick all game and a team will win so it’s not about us.’
Bale was asked whether he or ronaldo was the better player. ‘it’s not for me to decide,’ he replied. ‘the most important is how i perform for my team. if i can help my team win, that’s all i need. the team is the star, we all run for each
other, tackle for each other, fight for each other. We are like brothers. We have no fear.’
Bale raised a ripple of concern by spending time training on his own yesterday, but moved to calm any injury fears. ‘I felt a little stiff after the game as normal so had a bit of extra recovery on my own, nothing to be worried about,’ he said.
Real physio Jaime Benito has travelled out to aid Bale — a signal of the esteem he is held in by the Spanish club. ‘I had a few injuries this year and coming to a big tournament, I haven’t experienced it before, so I wanted to make sure I was fully fit and if there was a problem I can get it fixed straight away,’ explained Bale.
‘It’s been a massive help for me and even the medical staff here have probably needed it more because they didn’t want to take any of the others out for so long and leave any of the other boys without treatment. It was a good decision all round and it’s working well.’
It is working well all round for Wales. ‘We always believed we could go all the way,’ he added. ‘You see the likes of Greece and Denmark who have done it before. We believed, but doing it is another thing. I think we’ve grown throughout. After the England game we learned from our mistake of not passing the ball. At the crucial times we’ve come up with the goods.’
Tomorrow night in Lyon, for Bale and Wales, is the most crucial time of all.