Wales star Gareth Bale and his wife Emma Rhys-Jones have been left in shock after her aunt's house was raided by armed robbers during the World Cup.
Bale, 33, was in Qatar playing for Wales at the tournament when the raid took place at the end of November. Emma's aunt and her family were left 'shaken' after four masked men burst into their home in North Wales armed with shotguns.
According to The Sun, the masked raiders entered the property in search of gold, with one demanding: “Where’s the gold? We want the gold.” After being told there was nothing in the house, the gang fled the property empty-handed. One man has since been arrested.
A police spokesperson has confirmed that “a man, 28, from the Barnsley area was arrested on suspicion of burglary.” He has since been bailed as the police continue to hunt the rest of the people who were involved in the raid.
After the incident, Emma's aunt temporarily left the property. A family source explained: "Gareth and Emma are shocked and really concerned that a gun was used to make threats.
"We don’t know why Emma’s aunt was targeted. They seemed to be asking for a haul of gold. It has left Emma’s aunt and her family terrified."
Bale, who currently plays in the United States for MLS outfit Los Angeles FC, featured in all three of Wales' World Cup matches as the Dragons ended an agonising 64-year absence from the global stage.
But unfortunately, Bale was unable to prevent Rob Page's side from crashing out of the tournament prematurely. After snatching a last-gasp draw against the USA in their opening match, courtesy of a Bale penalty, Wales were eliminated after suffering back-to-back defeats against England and Iran.
There had been plenty of speculation that Bale could decide to retire in the wake of Wales' disappointing World Cup campaign. However, the former Tottenham and Real Madrid ace insisted that he had no plans to walk away and was hopeful of spearheading Wales' Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
"Just because we have had a difficult tournament, it doesn't mean it's an end of an era," Bale said in Qatar following Wales' elimination. "It's a difficult moment now, obviously - but we go again. We have a qualifying campaign starting in March.
"We have a few months to get away from international football which is disappointing, we would love to have stayed [at the World Cup] longer, but we go again in March."
He added: "I'll keep going as long as I can and as long as I'm wanted."
