‘Ready to exploit England’s weakness’
Wales forward Gareth Bale is ready to exploit England’s weaknesses in Thursday’s Euro 2016 Group B clash in Lens and stands by his claim that his team mates have more passion.
The Real Madrid player will be Wales’ key man as they try to beat England for the first time since 1984 and much of the buildup to the game has been focused on him. England manager Roy Hodgson said Bale had been ‘disrespectful’ after he suggested in an interview that Wales have more passion than their English counterparts. Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere responded to Bale’s comments by saying England have a better squad.
“We know they have strengths and they’re a very good team,” a smiling Bale told a news conference.
“We know their strengths but we also know their weaknesses — but I’m obviously not going to tell you them at the moment! We will do our homework and try to exploit those weaknesses.”
Asked about the response from the England camp to his comments, Bale said: “I never said they didn’t have passion or pride, but it’s my opinion that we have more.
“People like to take things out of context but I stand by my comments. If people feel I was being disrespectful... I wasn’t. But whatever sport it is, whether it’s football, rugby..., I feel that we always take it to the next level.” Bale’s importance to Wales cannot be overstated. Of the 11 goals Chris Coleman’s squad scored in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Bale netted seven and created two.