Ruth looks at the impact of Gareth Bale, so much more than a captain, writ large in Kazan.
Three minutes.
There were three minutes between Gareth Bale’s shot sliding below Belarus goalkeeper Sergey Chernik in the Centralniy Stadium, Kazan, and referee Giorgi Kruashvili blowing the final whistle. Not three minutes of angst and worry, rather three minutes of utter confidence.
Embed from Getty ImagesGareth Bale had woven his magic once more. Again pulling Cymru by our collective bootlaces out of the mire. And once he’d pushed and somehow hauled us to the summit, there was no fear of a very late slip. Bale powered Cymru forward through his sheer will …. yet again.
One Man Team
Sometimes it’s difficult to argue with the ‘one man team’ moniker, especially with a hattrick sitting on the books. And Bale has, understandably, grabbed the headlines. But the winning goal developed from a great long ball from Joe Morrell, tenacity and composure from Mark Harris, Dan James not shying from a shot, and Gareth Bale having magic in his left foot.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen Cymru was last looking to qualify for a World Cup back in the 2017-18 season, Morrell was on loan with Cheltenham Town in League 2, James played a few games in PL2 for Swansea City and Harris sat on the bench once for Cardiff City in an FA Cup third round game. Bale was scoring those two goals as Real Madrid conquered Liverpool in the Champions League Final.
I think Bale’s talismanic skill is not in dragging a team across the line, somewhat in a Cristiano Ronaldo-esque way. No, his superstrength is in making others believe. It didn’t matter, in that moment, that Allen and Morrell had had a below-par partnership. Or that Dan James was trying to dart through a sandy beach. Or that Mark Harris was half-an-hour into his debut. As a collective, headed by the captain, belief remained.
Embed from Getty ImagesSomehow, with a starting line-up worth of players missing, Cymru were still going to leave Kazan with a victory. For all the faults in Cymru’s performance in the Tatarstan capital, and there were plenty, the players’ heads never dropped.
It was undoubtedly a strange game. Cymru logged 17 shots on goal, but I can barely remember the host’s ‘keeper needing to make a save until Mark Harris seemed determined to find anything but net.
Our midfield seemed rarely offensively involved, yet Cymru had two-thirds of the possession. Ultimately, none of those figures matter.
Dai and I have often talked about Bale’s place on the Wales all-time list. I will continue to argue for John Charles, and Billy Meredith too, but I think that Bale is undoubtedly top of the ‘makes other players better’ list. In international football, that might be the most important trait.
Photo credit, Bale pointing : Jon Candy https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/27564197224