Bale already eyeing 2018 World Cup and predicts bright future for Wales
Gareth Bale has predicted a bright future for Wales following the disappointment of exiting Euro 2016.
Wales bowed out of the tournament at the semi-final stage with a 2-0 defeat by Portugal in Lyon on Wednesday night. But Bale hailed the remarkable journey which has seen Wales go from being ranked 117th in the world less than five years ago to reaching the last four of the European Championship.
The Real Madrid forward insists the determination is there for Wales to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“To be so close to the final and miss out is disappointing, but we have to be proud of what we’ve achieved,” Bale said. “It hurts now because it’s fresh but we’ve been on an amazing journey.
“The whole nation has enjoyed the journey as much as us and it’s been amazing, incredible. Fans, staff, everyone. It’s been one of those moments in your life we’ll never forget and very special to all of us.”
Thousands of fans are expected to welcome home Chris Coleman’s squad at a special event Cardiff today, which will include an open-top bus parade and a performance by Manic Street Preachers.
The whole country has been caught up by the team’s performances in France – the first time that a Wales side have reached the semi-final of a major competition.
But Bale says that the focus is already switching to the World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts with a home game against Moldova in September.
“Our hunger is there more than ever to get back [to major tournaments],” the 26-yearold said. “It hurts now but we’ve enjoyed it and we feel there’s still a lot more to come.
“There’s more improvements from us and come the World Cup qualifiers – which are not too far away – we’ll get back to working hard and doing what we do best.”
Coleman expressed his pride at the performance of his players after Wales’ elimination was confirmed by two Portugal goals in three minutes at the start of the second half.
Bale’s club team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a towering header before setting up Nani for the second goal.
“We can be a better side from it,” Bale said. “We’ve grown in confidence, we’ve grown in stature and I think we’ll be more respected.
“We said all along we didn’t just want to qualify for this tournament, we want to qualify every time. The hunger is there, the spirit is there and we’ll take all the positives from this and go into the next campaign trying to do it again.
“We always wanted to test ourselves against the best and I think we’ve done everybody proud – including ourselves.”
Wales held their customary huddle at the end of the game in front of their supporters. They were given an overwhelming reception and skipper Ashley Williams said the Euros had provided a firm foundation on which to build.
“We’ve got to be proud of ourselves. It’s such a young squad,” the Swansea defender said. “We can’t be deflated after this – getting to the semi-finals – because no-one thought we were going to get here.
“It’s such a young team and they’re going to have a lot more success. It was a bit of a gee-up really.
“This isn’t the end. It’s the start of something massive.”