Wales. Rest. Golf. In that order for Bale
EVEN the hotel golf simulator can’t entice gareth Bale from his preparations to be ready for Wales’ crunch match against Iran tomorrow, with the captain leaving the machine to others as he protects a sore back.
Bale (below) demonstrated with his equaliser against the USA that he still has the capacity to wrest a game Wales’s way. Though he had the golf machine set up at the team’s base in West Bay, near the coastal Corniche, he has left team-mates Matthew Smith and Tom lockyer to dominate, after winning ‘closest to the pin’ with his early swings. ‘He hasn’t played as much closer to the pin because I think his back might be feeling it a bit,’ , team-mate Harry Wilson son said yesterday. ‘But obviously when gaz has a swing, he’s very good.’ The golf activity, along with an inflatable Welsh dragon in the pool and a poker school, are among the distractions as rob
Page’s squad approach ch a match in which a convincing win could put them in the driving seateat to reach the last 16 ahead of facing England on Tuesday. Midfielders Ethan Ampadu and Sorba Thomas are leading the way in the table tennis stakes with Kieffer Moore, Dylan levitt, Ben Cabango and Neco Williams in the poker school.
Wilson related how the players had got behind wing-back Williams, who was told his grandfather had died less than 24 hours before Wales’s opening game. ‘The lads got around him and tried to make him feel as comfortable as possible,’ he said. Joe Allen trained with the full squad yesterday as he seeks fitness for the early kick-off at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, having been out for two months with hamstring damage.
Iran are likely to be missing goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, after a clash of heads with one of his defenders against England. Moore declared only a win would do, though Wales are expecting Iran to respond after their 6-2 hammering by England. ‘They’re going to have a reaction. So three points is a must for us,’ Moore said.
Page is likely to start with Moore against Iran,Ir having seen him arrivearr from the benchbenc and transform WalesWal in the second halfha of Monday’s 1-1 draw. MooreM said he hopedho he had convincedco Page to makem that choice, thoughth would not say he expected it. ‘If heh thinks I have done enough to start then happyha days,’ he said. ‘I look forward to it and it should be a great game. I could have got a goal! But I like to think I did my bit and played my part.’
The Bournemouth striker agreed that watching England’s dominance of Iran had left him licking his lips.
‘It did, yes,’ he said. ‘They struggled at set-pieces. You could just see England’s dominance in the box and they took a lead straight away.
‘England played really well to utilise those positions to get balls into the box and if we can replicate that, then hopefully we get the same outcome.’