Wales one win from World Cup finals as captain fantastic Bale does it again
GARETH Bale scored in either half as Wales booked their place in the World Cup playoff final by beating Austria in Cardiff.
The Real Madrid star struck a sweet free-kick midway through the first-half before drilling home in the 51st minute to take his international tally of goals to 38.
Marcel Sabitzer’s deflected strike gave Austria hope in what was a frenetic encounter at Cardiff City Stadium. But Rob Page’s men held on to move within one victory of a first World Cup appearance since 1958.
Head coach Page promised his side would be aggressive in their approach to the contest. And his words were reflected in his team selection, with plenty of attackers included in the lineup.
Harry Wilson, Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey operated in front of a back three, with Neco Williams and Connor Roberts being deployed as wingbacks. It allowed Bale and Daniel James to lead the line against an Austrian side littered with talent.
And it was the visitors who should have gone ahead after just five minutes as Sabitzer played Christoph Baumgartner through on goal, but the Hoffenheim attacker’s curling strike cannoned off the top of Wayne Hennessey’s crossbar. On his 99th cap, Hennessey had the impressive Williams to thank for getting the faintest of touches on the seemingly goalbound effort.
Page’s men looked threatening on the break, and Ramsey was unable to stretch far enough to poke James’ cross home moments after Wales survived that major scare. The tension was palpable, although the Red Dragons looked threatening, particularly when Williams got into attacking areas.
Following a brief period of pressure, Wales were presented with the chance to test Heinz Lindner as Wilson was cynically blocked by Baumgartner just outside the Austria box. Enter Bale.
Wales’ captain had played just 77 minutes of football for Real Madrid since turning out for his country against Belarus in November, and, as such, the pre-match buildup was all about his ability to hit full throttle in this mammoth encounter. His earlier touches had been rusty, but he produced a moment of magic with his wand of a left boot to send the freekick crashing into the net off the crossbar. Lindner was helpless, and the Red Wall were ecstatic.
It served as a real tension reliever for the Wales supporters who swiftly went through their full repertoire of songs. Marko Arnautovic threatened to kill their mood after charging through on goal soon after, although his heavy touch allowed Hennessey to pounce on the ball.
Joe Rodon was proving to be a clearing machine, and Wales were happy to remain compact in a bid to frustrate their opponents. They looked devastating on the counter attack as a result and came agonisingly close to doubling their advantage just five minutes before the break after Wilson and James pressed, although goalkeeper Lindner produced a fine save to palm away Ramsey’s goalbound effort as the home side took a slender lead into half-time.
Franco Foda’s side knew they had to improve, and Arnautovic headed at Hennessey after a decent start to the second-half from the visitors. But they were left stunned just six minutes after the restart following another fine piece of pressing from Wilson and James that earned Wales a corner.
James’ cross was perfectly brought under control by Ben Davies before Bale unleashed an unstoppable drive into the net. Bedlam ensued, and the party atmosphere well and truly kicked in.
James should have bulged the net soon after, although he was denied by Lindner with the offside flag already raised. And even when Austria captain David Alaba had the chance to test Hennessey from a free-kick on the edge of the box, Wales’ wall stood firm to ensure Hennessey was untroubled.
The game became wide open, and it led to chances at both ends. Bale scuffed his shot over after a swift counter, and Austria hit back in devastating style.
Sabitzer’s drilled effort took a huge deflection off Davies before looping over Hennessey to offer the travelling supporters hope with 25 minutes left on the clock.
James spurned two golden chance to strengthen Wales’ hand as he was thwarted by Heinz before being tackled by Nicolas Seiwald when it looked for all the world to see that he would get a shot away. Bale then hit a free-kick into the wall before Austria dominated the final stages.
And after heroic interventions from Rodon and Davies in injurytime, the sweet sound of the referee’s whistle pierced the night sky as Wales extended their unbeaten
home run in competitive games to 17 matches to secure a June play-off final against Scotland or Ukraine in the Welsh capital.
Wales: Hennessey; Ampadu, Rodon, B Davies; C Roberts, Ramsey, Allen, Wilson, N Williams; Bale (C) (Mepham 90+2), James (Johnson 88).
Subs not used: King, A Davies, Gunter, Levitt, Matondo, NorringtonDavies, J Williams, Harris, Thomas, Colwill.
Yellow cards: Wilson 59, Williams 90+3
Austria: Lindner; Seiwald, Hinteregger, Dragovic, Alaba (C); Schlager (Lazaro 77), Laimer (Kalajdzic 55), Lainer (Gregoritsch 88), Baumgartner (Weimann 77); Sabitzer; Arnautovic.
Subs not used: Pentz, Bachmann, Ulmer, Posch, Ilsanker, Grull, Schaub, Schopf.
Yellow cards: Baumgartner 24, Lainer 87
Attendance: 32,053
Referee: Szymon Marciniak