FIGHTING TALK
‘Enemy’ England too big for their boots, insists Wales star Bale
GARETH BALE has provided an explosive start to Euro 2016 by calling England ‘the enemy’ and claiming they ‘big themselves up before they’ve done anything’.
The Real Madrid star delivered his withering criticism as England prepared to face Russia tonight a few hours after Bale’s Wales side kick off their Group B rivalry against Slovakia.
With the pair then facing each other in Lens on Thursday, Bale has fuelled what was already due to be a fierce encounter by claiming his nation have ‘more passion and pride’ than Roy Hodgson’s side.
He said: ‘It is like any derby, you never want to lose to the enemy. I think we’ve got a lot more passion and pride about us than them. We’ll definitely show that on the day. They (England) big themselves up before they’ve done anything, so we’re going to go there and believe we can beat them. They believe they can beat us.
‘It is one we are looking forward to. There is no pressure on us. I’m sure it will be a very good game. Hopefully, we can come out on top.’
GARETH BALE does not pause for long before firing an answer that flies like one of his missile shots and stings upon impact. The question is about England and how much he is relishing the coming encounter.
‘It is like any derby, you never want to lose to the enemy,’ he says. ‘I think we’ve got a lot more passion and pride about us than them. We’ll definitely show that on the day.’
Rather than dial down on what promises to be an encounter brimming with fervour, Bale is revving it up. He is delving into an inner well of patriotic emotion and letting the contents pour out. It makes a change to the neutralised ground that international football often takes in the shadow of the club game and its towering mounds of money.
Still, it is some statement, worth repeating. Wales players have more passion and pride than their English counterparts. It is easy to picture a response coming Bale’s way soon after kick-off in Lens on Thursday.
He is not finished. Asked his reaction when England and Wales were drawn together in Group B, he says: ‘I had a chuckle, not going to lie. I knew it was going to come. It is an amazing game to be involved in. For me, it is probably the stand-out game in the tournament group stage.
‘It is one we are looking forward to. There is no pressure on us. They big themselves up before they’ve done anything, so we’re going to go there and believe we can beat them. They believe they can beat us. I’m sure it will be a very good game. Hopefully, we can come out on top.’
Bale, 26, is remembering a childhood in Cardiff where each summer would arrive without Wales in competition, while across the River Severn excitement and expectancy surrounded England, who would then inevitably exit early.
Twice England beat Wales during qualifying for the last European Championship, Bale played once, and it was the same outcome in the 2006 World Cup qualification campaign. Wales, the much smaller country by population (3million compared to 53m), have lost the last four encounters without scoring.
That explains the devilment in Bale’s attitude to a fixture long dubbed the Battle of Britain but only now seeing swords drawn. He is likely to carry the biggest weapon in his left boot but his fierce mentality is no less significant.
He is reminded how it was once a possibility, through a grandparent, that he could have represented England. The FA made a discreet enquiry during his teenage years only to receive a swift knock-back.
That is echoed now when it is suggested qualifying with Wales might be vindication for his decision.
‘No,’ he says, leaning back into his chair at Wales’ Dinard training base. ‘I wouldn’t care if I never qualified, I would never play for England. It doesn’t vindicate anything.’
Such strong national feeling is relatively rare among modern footballers. We saw it in extreme form at the last World Cup when Brazil’s players, thinking of absent Neymar, became overwhelmed as the anthems sounded ahead of their semi-final contest against Germany and went on to lose 7-1.
Bale channels his love for his country, which is undiluted by being the world’s most expensive footballer and twice winning the biggest club prize at Real Madrid, effectively. He scored seven goals and made two assists in qualifying to rank highest across the continent in terms of points accumulated for his side by an individual, probably the reason why he feels able to express such strident opinion now. It comes from a confidence in his ability to back it up by making the difference.
Through red-tinted spectacles or not, he sees the Welsh as a breed more wedded to their identity than anyone else, drawing on the impromptu singing of Land of My Fathers late on in last summer’s seismic 1-0 win over Belgium as evidence.
‘It’s difficult to explain but we feel that pride and passion,’ he says. ‘Look at the national anthem, everyone sings, the whole stadium.
‘I remember the Belgium game, we were all tired, and the whole stadium just started singing it. I don’t think any other nation would do that. Being Welsh just brings it out of you.
‘I remember when I was young being in a pub with my parents, everyone watching rugby or football. Everyone was together, singing. It’s the way we are brought up.’
Not since the World Cup in 1958 have Welsh pubs been able to show their football team in tournament action and the intervening years have seen a number of near misses to make the agony more pronounced.
For Bale, that came in 2004’s Euro play-off defeat to Russia. Two years later he was making his Wales debut aged 16, to become the country’s youngest-ever player, setting up Robert Earnshaw for a friendly winner against Trinidad and Tobago.
Harry Wilson has since taken that record but Bale remains his nation’s youngest goalscorer, sending in a free-kick against Slovakia in a Euro 2008 qualifier in October 2006 on his first competitive start. ‘It’s a good memory,’ he says.
Slovakia are the opponents
today and it provides a neat narrative for Bale, who never gave up hope of playing for Wales at a major finals. He explains: ‘You watch the tournaments when you are younger. France ’98 was probably the first I remember clearly. You wish you could be there. ‘I never used to have a team, just used to watch it for the whole tournament itself. Now the Welsh fans have someone to cheer properly like we didn’t when we were younger. ‘There were difficult times but for a while we were all young and building for the future. We’ve had a style of play, which has taken time to embed. ‘I don’t think we stopped believing but we had to get more experience, grow together. The difference from when I was 18 or 19 to what I am now, it’s changed. A lot of us have, we’re stronger and mentally tougher. It’s just been a process — a long one, but something that needed to happen. ‘There’s probably been more downs than ups for Wales but this will be one of the highest.It’s one for us to enjoy, we don’t feel pressure. ‘We’re happy to be here but we want to do something special. We know it’s going to be difficult, we just want to go out there and enjoy ourselves. If we give 100 per cent and have no regrets, we can’t do any more than that.’ The death of Gary Speed in November, 2011 devastated a nation and, for a time, seemed to lock the team in a state of grieving paralysis. Players have spoken about feeling lost during that period and Bale touches on that, but suggests emerging out the other side has unified Wales in a profound way. ‘It’s not just been difficult in football but for other things as well,’ he says, referencing Speed. ‘It’s made us come together, stronger. We’ve had to go deep to bring our emotions out, bring it onto the field. In this campaign you’ve seen it — after every game we are all in huddles.
‘We’re all together, there’s no groups hanging around. We speak with anyone, the youngsters can talk to whoever and not feel uncomfortable. We’ve been through so much and to be here now, I think we appreciate it more than other countries. We just have to give it a go.’
Chris Coleman took up the reins from Speed, initially trying to do things in a manner as a tribute to his predecessor and friend but realising Wales could only progress with him taking the lead in his own style.
Being present in France provides validation for that, with Coleman’s man-management and tactical invention to the fore, but there were moments when his job hung by a thread and Bale scored to give salvation.
In October 2012, Bale struck twice late on to turn potential defeat at home to Scotland into victory — following a 6-1 humiliation in Serbia — while at the start of this campaign Wales were drawing against Andorra with nine minutes left.
Bale, who had already equalised, converted a brilliant free-kick to enable his side to escape with three points.
‘Luckily I had a re-take,’ he says. His first effort was blocked but Gabriel Riera had strayed from the wall. ‘I didn’t even see him come out — I was just happy I had another go.’
Bale rejects the suggestion he has saved Coleman. ‘It’s not about that — we didn’t want to win for him, we wanted to win ourselves for everybody, for the nation,’ he adds.
‘We never want to let our manager down. He gives a lot of faith and prepares us better than anywhere I have been before. He leaves no stone unturned.
‘We know we are a smaller nation and we have to do everything in our power to try and get to the levels of others because they have a lot more players to choose from.’
Still, a lot of focus is placed on Bale to deliver the goods. Since qualifying he has only played 26 minutes for Wales due to injury and the side have lost three friendlies and drawn one.
‘I really don’t look at it as pressure,’ he says. ‘It is something to enjoy. It’s going out with your friends for a kick-about and you just have to try and win.
‘If I happen to score I score. If I don’t, I hope someone else scores. I was lucky enough to score the goals in qualifying but it could have easily been someone else.’
Bale will be supported in France by parents Debbie and Frank, wife Emma, and daughters Alba Viola and Nava Valentina. He wants their stay to be an extended one.
‘You always dream, of course,’ he says. ‘But then you wake up! Ultimately we want to go deep in the tournament but we have to take each game as it comes.
‘We can’t afford to think about the future because we have to get there first.’