After a big defeat against England, Wales’ first World Cup since 1958 is over after three group matches. It was a painful evening for Gareth Bale.
The star player from Wales did not play a full match at his club Los Angeles FC towards the World Cup, but was given confidence by national coach Rob Page in the first two group matches. He completed the ninety minutes each time, it did not come that far against England.
Bale was substituted at half-time and the underlying statistics provide an explanation for that early substitution. Bale touched the ball just seven times in the entire first half, made only one good pass in the first 45 minutes and lost the ball five times. In comparison, of all the players who played minutes during Wales – England, only Rubin Colwill had fewer ball touches than Bale. His compatriot only came in at the 81st minute.
Dean Saunders, who scored 22 goals for Wales and was also very successful at the highest club level in England, described the first half in a typical British way. “It looked like he was playing with a piano on his back,” the former striker referred to Bale’s slowness. 78-time England international Stuart Pearce took it a step further by stating to talkSPORT that England probably would have preferred Bale to have stayed put, as he was not a threat at all.
Wales’ run-up to the World Cup was better than the actual final tournament. The country was allowed to show itself again on the highest podium after more than sixty years, but dropped out with only one (goal) point as number four in Group B. Incidentally, Bale (33) repeated after the lost match against England that he will continue as an international. However, it is unlikely he will make an appearance in the next World cup. Due to the combined factors of his age and the ever increasing competitiveness in the European qualifying stage.
