Gareth Bale and national coach Rob Page saw Wales’ return to the World Cup after 64 years end in disappointment. Still, they look back on the tournament with a sense of pride.
The Welshmen lost their last game without a chance against England and thus ended last in Group B with only one point from three games. Star player Bale in particular could not impress, for example, he had only seven contacts with the English in the duel with the English.
Nevertheless, the 33-year-old attacker looks back with a positive feeling about the tournament. Which was the first for Wales since 1958. “Everyone is disappointed, but we can be proud of what we have achieved. We have qualified for a world championship. Of course we wanted to get through the group, but football is not always easy,” Bale mentioned.
National coach Page said, “This is already a great achievement for this group of players. We can build on that. We don’t have the level of players that England has yet, but we have been able to get young players used to a tournament and hopefully we can continue to qualify in the future.”
Whether Bale is also part of that future? The national coach thinks so. “I don’t think this is the last time you’ll see him in a Wales shirt,” he said. The player himself also indicated that he wanted to continue. “I’ll keep going as long as I can and I want to. Of course this is disappointing, but we will continue. The qualification (for the European Championship 2024) will start again in March,” he made it clear that he wanted to focus on the future again.
Earlier this year Wales were relegated from League A of the Nations League. As they finished bottom of the group which also had Netherlands, Belgium and Poland.
