WALES STAR GARETH BALE ON HIS WORLD CUP HOPES:
GARETH Bale admits he’s in the lastchance saloon when it comes to his opportunity of reaching a World Cup with Wales.
The 31-year-old Wales talisman made his international debut against Trinidad & Tobago almost 15 years ago and has played a major role in helping his country qualify for back-to-back European Championships.
He missed out on the latter stages of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign due to injury as Chris Coleman’s men went down to a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Ireland in Cardiff - a result that ensured Wales’ wait to reach a first World Cup since 1958 was extended.
And ahead of his side’s opening 2022 qualifier against Belgium, Bale believes it’s now or never as far as his ambitions of playing in the global showpiece are concerned.
“It’s been a long time since I started here, but I think through the years, we’ve got better and better as time has gone on,” he explained.
“Originally, we wanted to qualify for a major tournament, and then we wanted to qualify for multiple tournaments, which we have.
“I think now the aim is to qualify for a World Cup. There’s no time like the present to try and qualify this time around.
“We want to give it our best shot, and possibly it’s the last time that I’ll be able to qualify for a World Cup so we need to give it a real good go and give everything like we always do for the country.”
Bale also revealed he plans to return to Real Madrid this summer following his loan spell with Tottenham Hotspur.
The Wales star was frozen out by Zinedine Zidane in the Spanish capital and opted to return to north London on loan for the duration of the 2020/21 campaign in a bid to get regular gametime.
“It’s [future] no distraction for me coming into the Euros,” said Bale.
“The main reason I came to Spurs this year was, obviously I wanted to play football first and foremost but going into the Euros, I wanted to be match fit.
“The original plan was only to do a season at Spurs, and then after the Euros, I would still have a year left at Real Madrid.
“My plan is to go back and that’s as far as I’ve planned to be honest.”
Wales will be without Aaron Ramsey and Tom Lockyer for the game in Leuven.
And yesterday, it was also confirmed that Ben Davies would miss out due to a soft tissue injury.
Bale, though, is once again expected to captain his country for the crunch clash with Roberto Martinez’s side at Den Dreef.
But Rob Page admits Wales have plenty of leaders in their ranks to add to the experience their record goalscorer Bale brings.
“One thing I’ve always said since I’ve been involved here is that we’ve got a great leadership group,” said Page.
“Having Joe Allen back in the group is brilliant. He gives the lads a lift straight away.
“So, not only Baleo as captain, but the other senior boys, Wardy [Danny Ward], Gunts [Chris Gunter], Joe Allen, all of those boys will help the young ones.
“Like I said, they were brilliant in November and they’ve been great again as a leadership group.”
JOE Allen is all smiles as he prepares to feature for Wales for the first time in 16 months.
The central midfielder missed all eight of his country’s matches last year due to being sidelined with an Achilles injury.
He returned to the national set-up this week for the first time since Wales defeated Hungary 2-0 at Cardiff City Stadium to secure their place at Euro 2020 – a tournament Allen will now be able to feature as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
But it was a long road to recovery for the 31-year-old who was unable to take full advantage of Stoke City’s plush facilities during the early days of his nine-month recovery due to Covid19 restrictions.
“There were concerns. I was in a position where I just wanted to make sure that I could get it right and get back to the same physical level,” he explained.
“Naturally, with the pandemic, there were concerns about how much rehab I could get and what access to facilities I could get.
“But I can honestly say that it hasn’t turned out to have affected me. I think they were just more concerns that I had rather than it having any big impact.
“Thankfully, things did get slightly more relaxed and I was able to get the care I needed. It was the best care I could have asked for.”
Days were long for Allen and the pain often proved tough to cope with mentally.
Although after making a full recovery, the midfielder has been able to have a fresh perspective on his lengthy period on the sidelines.
“You hear it time and time again from different players. Seeing your team training and playing is the toughest part. We’re well drilled in understanding injuries happen and it comes with the territory,” said the 56-cap warrior.
“But as tough as it is, you know eventually you are going to get back out on the grass.
“Nine months in the grand scheme of things isn’t really that long. It feels like an age when you’re going through it, but I’ve got through it.
“I’ve had no issues with the injury since coming back and hopefully that’ll remain the case.”
Now primed and ready for international duty, Allen is aiming to play his part in what would be another seismic victory over Belgium.
And the midfield dynamo has revealed he joined the thousands of Dragons fans in re-watching Wales’ stunning 3-1 quarter-final triumph over the Belgians at Euro 2016 while rehabilitating from his injury last summer.
“A lot of the lads were talking about how they were showing the games again,” said Allen.
“I’d never watched them back, so I had a chance to go through them again and take that trip down memory lane.
“What a summer it was and we’re all hoping we get a taste of something similar this summer, with one eye on getting to a World Cup. Older players realise it could be a last chance to get to one.”
This time around, Allen will be able to lock horns with his former mentor Roberto Martinez.
The Spaniard handed the midfielder his Swansea City league debut in 2007 and played a key role in his development at the Liberty Stadium.
And Allen says he’s relishing the opportunity to come up against the man who was a vital cog in Swansea’s rise through the divisions.
“Huge influence. Fantastic for me, he gave me a chance to break into the first team at a young age at Swansea with a style and a way of playing that was perfect,” he added.
“I think we all knew as players back then that he was going to go on to achieve great things as a manager.
“It’s not surprising he’s got one of the biggest jobs in international football now and is working with some great players.
“I owe him a lot and I’m looking forward to coming up against one of his teams.”
With Belgium sitting at the summit of the FIFA rankings, Robert Page’s side could not have asked for a tougher start to their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Despite the scale of the task in hand, Allen says Wales are determined to make their mark early on and get 2021 off to the best possible start witrh a win against Belgium.
“We are all hugely motivated and hungry to get this campaign off to a good start, a hugely challenging game to do it, but it’s a team we know pretty well and hopefully they are not looking forward to playing against us,” he concluded.
Wales – who are unbeaten in their last 11 competitive outings – face Belgium at Den Dreef in Leuven tonight before taking on Mexico in a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
Page’s side will then host Czech Republic at Cardiff City Stadium in their second World Cup qualifier next Tuesday, March 30.