Brilliant Bale double fires Wales into final
Scotland shouldn’t simply fear Wales the football team should circumstances determine they are given the opportunity to face them in a World Cup play-off final.
Of course, this is an outcome on which so much remains in therealmsoftheunknown.the warbeingwagedbyrussiaona Ukraine that should have been takingtothehampdenpitchfor the semi-final as the Welsh triumphed2-1overaustriaintheir such assignment prevents the rush to any conclusions about what may lie ahead. Except one.
Whatshouldscarewhoeveris rangedagainstwales,whenever that final is able to be staged, isthatitwasn’tjustthestarsthat appeared aligned for the Celtic nation as they sought to end a 64-year wait for a World Cup finals appearance in emotiondrenched Cardiff City Stadium. It was the incandescence of their supernova, who takes the form of the inspirational, indefatigable,simplyincredible Garethbale,thatfizzedthemto within one game of a seemingly never-ending quest. In utterly extraordinary fashion.
That the attacker with magic in his boots, who now sees these leaden in Spain as he has become largely a spectator for his club Real Madrid, should be able to produce two wandlike finishes proved the ultimate in comic-book stuff. Bale had played the sum total of 119 minutes of competitive football in the seven months previous to the semi-final - 74 of these in one Madrid outing a month ago. In the early stages, he looked blowing and off the pace… only then to blow up a whirlwind throughout the arena with a glorious set-piece for the opener 25 minutes in.
Stepping back and to the side, like a rugby union kicker eyeing up a conversion for an award to the right of the box, he craftedacontactthatseemedto defy geometry as it dipped and swerved to find a sweet spot that hardly seemed to exist, the ball flying in the top right-hand cornerofheinzlinder’snetand almostbrushingalayerofpaint of the upright as he did so.
His second, to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute and bag him his 38th goal in 101 appearance for his beloved country, came when the ball broke to him 14 yards out when he was half-turned, and didn’t appear to have any realistic shooting opportunity. With sleight of body and feet, he conjured one up, to absolutely hammer an angled drive beyond the despairing outstretched hand of Linder.
Bale’s herculean endeavours proved just enough, with nervy momentsfollowingbendavies stickingoutaboottoblockmarcel Sabitzer's shot and ending up taking it away from keeper Wayne Henessey that gave Austria a 64th minute lifeline. But Bale couldn’t be denied, in whatthe32-year-oldhashinted might be his last campaign for a Wales - in tandem with Aaron Ramsey - he drove to semifinals of Euro 2016 and then beyond the group stages of the subsequenteuroslastyear.bale isanirresistibleforcethatmust bemetwithanimmovablescotland or Ukraine in a final that will be staged in Wales. Precedent suggests that challenge will be a mountain for any visitors, on a par with Snowdonia’s peaks.forthesuccessofrobert Page’s team means the Welsh are now unbeaten at home in 17 games.