Brilliant Bale isn’t Ronaldo so stardust doesn’t stick
get an airing, as will Eden Hazard. Luka Modric has just collected the UEFA Player of the Season award.
Yet when injuries take a break, Bale – arguably Britain’s greatest footballing export – has a case to be counted alongside the world’s best. He is that good. When Bale collected his 2012-13 Football Writers’ Association footballer of the year award, his move to the Bernabeu was only a few months away.
A significant number of those who voted for him wondered how long a shy young man would last in one of club football’s fiercest pressure cookers.
He is now in his sixth year with Real Madrid. That in itself is a fantastic achievement, never mind the fact that he has helped his club win four Champions Leagues in that time.
Having scored in each of Real’s three league matches this season, Bale has 73 goals in 129 La Liga appearances, along with 41 assists.
With Ronaldo, who has yet to score for Juventus, out of the picture and with Real not signing a replacement galactico, Bale has become the main man, having not been guaranteed even a starting place under previous boss Zinedine Zidane (below). And there should be absolutely no doubt about him being up to the task if his body gives him a free run at it. That is the crucial caveat, Bale having suffered 11 injuries in his time in Spain.
Not that his physical struggles have ever impacted on his commitment to Wales.
When he arrowed another spectacular goal into the top corner of the Republic of Ireland net on Thursday – with a technique he has honed the same way as Ronaldo has honed his – Bale celebrated with the same gusto, the unadulterated joy, that he exuded after THAT goal against Liverpool in the Champions League final earlier this year.
Not only must Ryan Giggs consider himself fortunate to have such a shining talisman in his Welsh ranks, he must reflect ruefully on how much more he could have given his nation’s cause during his own brilliant playing career.
Club football looks serious business for Bale. Playing for his country looks fun. Just how it should be.
His 30th goal for Wales was a gem, but Bale has developed a habit of making the wondrous seem routine. It would be no surprise if there is more of the same when he faces Denmark this evening.
Amidst the constant talk of his physical issues and the possibility of him leaving Real (the last bout initiated by him, to be fair), Bale’s brilliance can get obscured. It should not be.
And he is a talent that should be celebrated well beyond the borders of Wales.